Waiting Patients are now waiting beside Patients Beds in NHS Hospitals

I know patients waiting to be admitted have hours to wait in corridors of hospitals but this is going too far, surely.

Patients are dying in corridors and pregnant women are miscarrying in side rooms as overwhelmed hospitals struggle to cope, nurses say.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said evidence provided by more than 5,000 of its members across the UK this winter also showed cupboards, car parks, bathrooms and nursing stations were being turned into makeshift areas for patients.

Nurses warned such practices put patients at risk as staff were unable to access vital equipment such as oxygen, heart monitors and suction equipment, and did not have the time and space to provide CPR.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he agreed the problems should not be tolerated, but laid the blame on the previous government.

However, RCN general secretary Prof Nicola Ranger said the findings should act as a "wake-up call" to Labour.

"Patients are being stripped of their dignity and lives put at risk," she said.

Peter Towndrow fell ill on the night of 4 December, but despite his wife Caroline calling an ambulance at 06:00 GMT the next day, he did not get to hospital until his son drove him in at 21:00.

His condition deteriorated in hospital and he died on 7 December after eventually being diagnosed with sepsis.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said poor ambulance response times were a symptom of broader system-wide pressures.

My eye-opening day at overrun A&E department
Published
1 day ago
Ambulance