Responding to the CQC inpatient survey RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:

“Behind these figures are thousands of vulnerable people, forced to endure intimate examinations in public, placed into areas with little to no appropriate medical equipment. It is undignified, unacceptable and must end.

“Despite patients saying they always had trust and confidence in nurses, the reality is that shockingly long waits and corridor care are the clearest indicators that hospitals have too few of them to meet patient need. It also shows that community services, which are best placed to keep people healthier closer to home, simply don’t have the capacity to help ease pressures. Boosting this capacity must be a priority for government as we head into winter.

“Ministers have committed to publishing data on corridor care and this must be a crucial first step to addressing the crisis. Alongside this transparency we need new investment and a workforce plan with clear measures to bolster and grow the nursing workforce everywhere, but especially in the community. That’s how we end the scandal of corridor care and protect patients.”

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