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Cabinet Secretary commits to publish data on corridor care
Yesterday, following a statement on winter planning, the Cabinet Secretary for health, social care and sport agreed to follow our recommendation and begin recording and reporting on incidences of corridor care.
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Responding to questions from opposition MSPs on our "Key drivers of corridor care in Scotland" report which was published yesterday (8 October) Cabinet Secretary Angela Constance MSP said: “I very much welcome the RCN’s report today and I agree that we need to quickly come to a view of a definition of corridor care…. and we also need to be able to measure it as corridor care is unacceptable.”
The Cabinet Secretary emphasised the need to act quickly to agree a definition and a method of measurement that does not put an additional burden on the system.
The Scottish government’s decision follows years of campaigning by the RCN raising your concerns about the impact hospital overcrowding is having on the safety and dignity of patients and the wellbeing of staff.
The statement on winter preparedness and hospital flow reinforced the Scottish government’s ambition of moving to a system where more people receive care in the community. A new surge preparedness framework has been published to support collaborative working across health, social care and the third sector this winter.
Commenting, Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Executive Director, said:
“It is very welcome that the Cabinet Secretary has listened to our calls on the need to agree a definition of corridor care and to capture and report data on the instances of corridor care across Scotland. We now need to see a timeline for taking this forward quickly to ensure corridor care doesn’t continue to go unchecked over winter.
“The statement also emphasises the importance of a community first approach. We agree that building capacity within communities is essential for relieving the pressure on acute hospitals. District nurses are experts in delivering clinical care in people’s homes, supporting people with long term conditions, preventing hospital admissions and supporting timely discharge. Strengthening Scotland’s community nursing workforce, including by supporting more district nurses to gain the Specialist Practitioner Qualification in District Nursing, is one of the best investments the Scottish government could make, and we also need to see urgent action on this from Ministers.”
