For the second consecutive month, more than 3,000 patients a day in England have been cared for in hospital corridors or makeshift areas, as the NHS experiences a “summer surge”. Health officials recorded 2.5 million A&E attendances in July, a record, amid two heatwaves.
Corridor care figures remain high
An average of 2,300 patients received corridor care in A&E departments in England each day in July, along with 728 patients elsewhere in hospital wards, totalling 3,028. This is down slightly from June’s average of 2,439 in A&E and 749 in wards, totalling 3,188.
This is the third time corridor care figures have been published by NHS England, and the second consecutive month they have remained above 3,000 a day. The data covers patients who have been receiving corridor care for at least 45 minutes, meaning care did not take place in a clinically appropriate and safe setting with privacy, access to food, water and toilets, and where lights can be turned off and noise minimised to allow sleep.
Impact on patients and staff
Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The fact that we even need a proper definition and data for corridor care in the NHS shows just how far A&E performance has spiralled out of control, with very long waits now the norm.” She added that the data shows “huge variation from day to day”, and that “on almost every day of the month, there were cases of corridor care for children in other areas of hospitals while they waited for a proper bed on a ward.”
The monthly performance figures also show the overall NHS waiting list fell after rising for two consecutive months. An estimated 7.27 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of June, relating to 6.15 million patients, down from 7.28 million treatments and 6.16 million patients at the end of May.
Waiting times and response
Some 65.8% of patients began hospital treatment within 18 weeks of referral, up slightly from 65.6%. The number of patients waiting more than a year to start treatment rose slightly to 105,711 from 104,734, although those facing the longest waits of 18 months fell to 1,099 from 1,144. In emergency departments, 75.4% of patients were seen within four hours last month, up from 75.0% in June. The number of people waiting more than 12 hours from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 47,438, down from 49,466.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked NHS staff for “their extraordinary efforts over this hugely challenging summer”. She said: “Despite the extreme heat and record demand that NHS staff have faced, more than three quarters of patients were seen within four hours in A&E, a record 2.65 million diagnostic tests and checks were carried out in a single month, and the waiting list has fallen in the month of June for the first time since 2011.” She added that “we must start planning for summer pressures in the NHS in the same way we do for winter”, and that she is working with NHS leaders to put those plans in place.
Dr Ragit Varia, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “From permawinter to permaheat, there is no longer a quiet season for the NHS. Month after month, patients are left waiting far too long in overcrowded emergency departments, corridors and other unsuitable spaces.” He noted that 47,438 patients waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit to admission in July, up 34% on the same month last year, which is 1,530 people every day.
A rare amber heat warning has come into force across parts of England, with temperatures set to reach 38C in some areas. The warning by the Met Office stretches from London to Sheffield, covering parts of the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire, and is in place from 9am to midnight on Thursday. Professor Frankie Swords, NHS national medical director, advised the public to “take sensible precautions to stay safe: keep hydrated, avoid the sun during the hottest part of the day especially if you are clinically vulnerable, and check in on older or vulnerable friends, relatives and neighbours.”
