A bombshell report by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has revealed that patients are dying in hospital corridors and going undiscovered for hours, while others suffer heart attacks without receiving CPR due to overcrowding. The report, based on harrowing testimonies from 5,400 nurses across the UK, describes scenes where pregnant women have miscarriages outside wards and patients are left without call bells in 'animal-like conditions'.
The RCN warned that patients are 'routinely coming to harm' because vital equipment is unavailable and staff are too busy to provide adequate care. One nurse reported seeing 'cardiac arrests in the corridor with no crash bell, crash trolley, oxygen, defibrillator … straddling a patient doing CPR while everyone watches on'. Another nurse in the south-east of England recounted that 'a patient died in the corridor but wasn't discovered for hours'.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, described the testimonies as 'horrendous' and called for a 'watershed moment' to prompt government action. He said: 'I am shocked, appalled and so saddened that this is the level of care we as clinicians are being forced to provide to our patients.'
The 460-page report details how patients are being given drugs, intravenous infusions, and even blood transfusions in cold, noisy corridors. Lack of space has forced treatment in storerooms, car parks, offices, and toilets. One nurse had to tell a patient he was dying as others were wheeled past and orders were shouted across the unit.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended the government's record, blaming the previous administration for normalising 'corridor care'. He said: 'It is unsafe, undignified, a cruel consequence of 14 years of failure on the NHS and I am determined to consign it to the history books.' However, he admitted it would take time to undo the damage, and could not promise an end to corridor care next year.
The report comes as the NHS faces one of its worst winter crises, with around 20 hospital trusts in England declaring critical incidents. Some hospitals, such as the Whittington in north London, have begun recruiting nurses specifically to provide 'corridor care'.
