Calls to end corridor care in NHS Wales

The Royal College of Nursing Wales and the BMA Cymru Wales have jointly raised the alarm on patient safety for Welsh Government to eradicate corridor care.

In Wales, patients are currently receiving care on trolleys or chairs for hours on end, often days, in pain and suffering. Doctors, nurses, and health care staff are forced to treat and care for patients in corridors, car parks, and other places where safe, dignified care isn't possible and where they lack access to life-saving equipment. 

The RCN and the BMA are now calling on the Welsh Government to immediately: 

1. Begin recording and reporting on corridor care in Wales, starting by making it a ‘never event’ for patients to receive care in chairs for more than 24 hours.

2. Pause reductions in NHS Wales hospital beds. Nationally review capacity and deliver a clear, costed workforce plan to ensure hospitals and wider care settings can meet future demand.

3. Invest in community-based care by:
• increasing the number of District Nurses (and nurses with a community nursing master’s degree) back to, and above, 2010 levels to meet demand.
• restoring the proportion of NHS Wales funding in general practice to historic levels, with aspirations to increase, so that we train, recruit and retain enough GPs to move toward the OECD average number of GPs per 1000 people.

4. Prioritise prevention and early intervention. Sustainable emergency care needs a strong focus on population health and early diagnosis to reduce avoidable crises.

The petition which reached 10,536 signatures is now under consideration by the Petitions Committee for a debate in the Senedd this month.

Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has welcomed news that a petition calling for an end to unsafe corridor care will be debated in the Senedd.

Mr Rowlands was commenting after it was announced that over 10,000 signatures had been collected after the Royal College of Nursing Wales and the BMA Cymru Wales launched a petition urging the Welsh Government to eradicate corridor care.

He said:

“Like most people I find it deeply disturbing to see and hear about patients receiving care in corridors either in chairs or trolleys. It is simply not acceptable that doctors, nurses and health care staff have to treat them there.

“I welcome the petition by the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association Cymru who have quite rightly raised the alarm on patient safety.

“I have complained time and time again about our struggling NHS and I have actually experienced the long wait for treatment in A&E where I saw corridors packed with patients on trolleys.

“It is about time the Welsh Labour Government got to grips with the issue and resolved the situation.”