Responding to a study by members of the Trainee Emergency Research Network (TERN) showing overcrowding and corridor care increase the risk of death in patients, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said:

"This report reflects exactly what nursing staff are telling us: that overcrowding and corridor care pose a severe threat to the lives of patients. The reality is that staff simply can't deliver the standard of care that patients deserve in these conditions, which compromises patient safety and ultimately risks preventable deaths.

"The appalling situation must be met head on with immediate and significant investment in beds and nursing staff in hospitals but also more capacity in community services and social care to treat people closer to home and speed up discharge. Nothing else will match the scale of this crisis."

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