Nurses ‘increasingly stressed’ by having to treat patients on trolleys
Leaving patients on trolleys in hospital corridors is both “unsafe and undignified” and is also having a negative impact on staff, nurse leaders have warned in response to latest figures.
Older patients are sometimes waiting over five days on hospital trolleys in accident and emergency departments prior to being admitted to a ward, according to data collated by the Liberal Democrats.
“This is becoming normalised across hospitals and it’s simply not acceptable”
Nicola Ranger
Organisations representing nurses and NHS leaders said the figures described a “bleak” situation that was damaging the wellbeing of health service staff, as well as being detrimental to patient care.
They blamed a lack of long-term investment and well-established pressures on services across the health and care system, which were having a knock-on effect on hospital bed capacity.
The situation, which is reminiscent of the crisis facing the NHS in the 1990s, was revealed by the Liberal Democrat Party, which obtained the data via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
According to the figures from 48 hospital trusts, close to 100,000 elderly patients waited over 12 hours on trolleys in A&E last year – a massive 25-fold increase since 2019.
In addition, 16 NHS trusts had patients left waiting in hospital corridors for two days or more and almost every trust has seen an increase in average A&E trolley waits since 2019.
Elderly patients were waiting for an average of over seven hours on a trolley in A&Es – an hour longer than the average wait for all patients – the figures suggested.
However, in one case, an elderly patient waited 131-hours, or five-and-a-half days, to be admitted to hospital after a decision to admit, the FOI revealed.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey warned of a “corridor care crisis” and called for a boost to hospital beds.
In response, Professor Nicola Ranger, Royal College of Nursing chief nursing officer and deputy chief executive, said: “This is becoming normalised across hospitals and it’s simply not acceptable.
“The bleak reality is that those who should be given the greatest care are deteriorating whilst left on chairs and trolleys in corridors, cupboards and side rooms for hours on end,” she said.
“In efforts to clear pressures at the front door patients are moved around, treated in inappropriate areas, which are often public spaces,” she said. “It’s unsafe and undignified.”
Professor Ranger added: “Staff are increasingly stressed, suffering moral injury from being forced to work in these circumstances.”
“This is a whole system issue,” she said. “Demand on services is increasing but GPs, community and social care are not resourced to support an ageing population with complex needs.”
Meanwhile, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health service managers, said: “These new figures paint a bleak but sadly not surprising picture.
“The number of so-called trolley waits has risen significantly since the pandemic, following a decade of underinvestment coupled with rising demand from patients who have more complex needs.”
He said: “Our members continue to report how difficult it is to discharge patients into community or social care, which, in turn, is making it much harder to free up beds for patients coming from A&E.
“This is creating bottlenecks throughout the urgent and emergency care system and creating a domino effect,” noted Mr Taylor.
“NHS staff are constantly having to do what they can to manage the risks to patient safety in very trying conditions”
Matthew Taylor
He said that, to keep patients safe, the NHS was often having to rely on methods that were rarely used a decade ago, including treating patients in corridors or overflow wards.
“This is not always safe for patients, frustrates staff who want to provide the best care possible, and must not become the new normal,” he stated.
“But sometimes it may be a less risky option than leaving patients waiting in the back of ambulances queuing outside hospitals, so NHS staff are constantly having to do what they can to manage the risks to patient safety in very trying conditions,” he added.
The chief executive of NHS Providers, Sir Julian Hartley, said: “Staff work tirelessly, often exhausting every available option, to try and prevent ‘corridor care’ from happening.
“But with record levels of pressure across the whole health and care system, and demand for beds outstripping supply, there will be times when staff are forced to deliver care outside of wards.”
He added: “The NHS is keeping more beds open to try and ensure all patients receive care in an appropriate clinical setting but… much more needs to be done to minimise incidents of corridor care.
“We also need to boost capacity across social care and community services so people can receive early interventions and preventative care at, or closer to, home.”
