Northern Irish nurses have highlighted a collapse in standards at under-pressure hospitals as they warn that patients are dying in corridor beds.
The Royal College of Nursing has carried out a survey of over 5,000 nurses across the UK, including a significant number from Northern Ireland, who have warned that patients are routinely coming to harm as they are being treated on corridor beds, with some even passing away.
One nurse from Northern Ireland highlighted how a vulnerable patient who was incontinent had to be changed beside a set of vending machines.
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More than one in four of the nursing staff surveyed by the RCN said the corridor care they were providing was not in a dedicated ‘temporary escalation space’ with many staff highlighting corridor care as an everyday occurrence.
The survey has been described by the Executive Director of the RCN Northern Ireland as "one of the most shocking reports of the experiences of nursing staff that I have ever seen".
A nurse working in Northern Ireland said: “We have had patients in corridor beds who are dying or at end of life and we have had to rely on other patients to give up their room for us to move end of life or even septic patients in”.
Another said: “recently a patient was being nursed in the corridor and became acutely unwell. It turned out he had a leaking AAA [Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm] and ended up passing away.”
While a third nurse said: "I had to change an incontinent, frail patient with dementia on the corridor, by the vending machine."
RCN Northern Ireland Executive Director, Professor Rita Devlin said: “This is one of the most shocking reports of the experiences of nursing staff that I have ever seen. Consistently nurses are reporting they are unable to access basic but life-saving equipment such as oxygen and suction when caring for patients in a variety of inappropriate and unsafe areas.
“Most of the nurses quoted in the Northern Ireland report talk about a complete absence of privacy and dignity and very poor infection control. The fact that we have people who are at end of life being cared for in these circumstances is horrifying.
“It is clear that those staff trying to treat patients in these conditions are themselves experiencing a severe impact on their own mental health. This is not something we signed up to when we trained as nursing staff.”
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “This devastating testimony from frontline nursing staff shows patients are coming to harm every day, forced to endure unsafe treatment in corridors, toilets, and even rooms usually reserved for families to visit deceased relatives. Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital lifesaving equipment. We can now categorically say patients are dying in this situation.
“The revelations from our wards must now become a moment in time. A moment for bold government action on an NHS which has been neglected for so long. Minsters cannot shirk responsibility and need to recognise that recovering patient care will take new investment, including in building a strong nursing workforce.
“Health leaders must also commit to publishing the data on exactly how many patients are being cared for in these circumstances. The public deserves to know what is happening to patient safety.”
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