RCN research shows huge numbers of patients being treated in corridors and on trollies

Investment in the nursing workforce is needed now, the RCN insists, as survey findings released today (14 July) show clinical care is taking place in settings such as hospital corridors and waiting rooms rather than on wards. 

Our poll of more than 20,000 nursing and midwifery staff found the situation is worst in emergency care settings where nearly two-thirds of respondents reported the problem. 

Elsewhere, more than a quarter of nursing staff who responded say patients are being treated in the wrong setting, meaning their care is being compromised and even made unsafe. 

Staff shortages are a key factor, and across health and social care settings this is causing delays to patients being discharged into the community. This leaves hospitals full, with emergency care staff having to provide care in inappropriate settings.  

Nearly half of respondents to our “last shift survey” conducted in March said necessary care had been left undone due to a lack of time – also a consequence of nursing staff shortages.  

One specific issue identified by respondents was extra beds being added to wards, making carrying out care more difficult, and leading to a lack of privacy for patients and their families.  

A nurse who works on an NHS adult acute ward in Scotland said patients and their relatives had complained about an extra bed being squeezed into a four-bedded bay, meaning they had no buzzer, no curtains and were not two-metre distanced. 

She added: “I feel incredibly frustrated and embarrassed. It is totally inappropriate for ward rounds, nursing procedures, COVID precautions and an extra stress on staff.”   

RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen described the situation as “scandalous” and said treating patients in inappropriate care settings must not become the “new normal”.  

She added: “We’re in the situation largely because of the failure of governments across the UK to address the nursing workforce crisis, which has seen more than 25,000 nurses leave the profession in the last year alone.  

“It’s a very simple choice – invest properly in nursing – plan staffing based on the population’s needs, hold yourselves accountable and put the funding in place or even more patients will be waiting on hospital trollies and the queue of ambulances outside A&Es will grow even longer.”  

The pressure on already exhausted nursing staff across health and care remains unsustainable with waiting lists at record levels and UK governments not doing enough to recruit and retain nursing staff. 

We’re calling on governments across the UK to bolster the domestic workforce. Pay is a key factor affecting the recruitment and retention during this cost-of-living crisis. This year’s NHS pay award must be significantly above the rate of inflation.