Specialist teams deployed to worst-affected trusts in bid to end corridor care
Corridor care is where a patient is receiving care for more than 45 minutes on a ward outside of a bed space. This happens when overstretched wards run out of bed space and end up putting patients on chairs, trolleys or even floors in non-clinical areas and hospital thoroughfares.
The practice compromises patient safety, experience, privacy and dignity. Stories shared with local Healthwatch across the country reveal the scale of the issue, with many sharing experiences of long waits and delays and the emotional toll of receiving care in inappropriate settings.
Earlier this year, NHS England announced a formal definition of corridor care and a requirement that trust chief executives collect data about the levels of corridor care taking place in hospitals.
Now the government has announced that specialist teams will be sent to a small number of Trusts to provide bespoke clinical support to leadership staff.
NHS leaders at the worst-affected trusts, will be supported by experts from the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) team to learn from those NHS trusts which have already made significant inroads into reducing corridor care this year.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
For too long, the normalisation of corridor care has been baked into our NHS – it’s unacceptable, undignified and exactly why this government is shifting the dial for patients and staff.
We’re sending in specialist teams of experts to identify the causes in some of the worst offending trusts and swiftly rectify the problems they find.
That, plus new and expanded urgent care centres will mean patients are treated more quickly and in the right place, while easing pressure on busy A&Es to care for the most serious cases.
We are cutting waiting times and moving away from unacceptable corridor care, building an NHS that treats patients with dignity.
After the NHS performed significantly better this winter, we are going further to strengthen services and build a system fit for the future, backed by record investment.
