A&E nurse describes 16-hour waits and corridor deaths in UK hospital
7 reported
A senior A&E nurse in southern England, writing under the pseudonym Sophie, describes a sharp decline in emergency care standards since she began her career in 2010. She reports that patients in her department now wait up to 16 hours to see a doctor, and that corridor care — treating patients in hallways or storage rooms — is a daily occurrence. The nurse states that a patient recently died in a corridor in her hospital, alone and without privacy. She notes that the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has pointed to a tenfold rise in deaths attributed to long A&E waits over the past 10 years, from 30 a week to more than 300. The NHS has for the first time released data showing nearly 2,500 patients a day last month received care in a corridor, following pressure from the Royal College of Nursing. The nurse calls for investment in hospital beds, social care, nursing teams, and community and primary care to address the system-wide pressures.
What’s reported
The nurse began her A&E career in 2010 at age 21, when the four-hour target was routinely met and departments were sometimes nearly empty in the evenings.
Things began to change noticeably around 2015, with longer waits and missed targets, and worsened after restrictions relaxed following the second Covid outbreak in winter 2020-21.
Patients in her A&E now wait up to 16 hours to be seen by a doctor.
Corridor care is a daily occurrence; a patient recently died in a corridor in her hospital.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine reported a tenfold rise in deaths attributed to long A&E waits over the past 10 years (from 30 a week to more than 300).
The NHS released data showing nearly 2,500 patients a day last month received care in a corridor, after the Royal College of Nursing raised the issue.
The nurse calls for investment in hospital beds, social care, nursing teams, and community and primary care.
Key figures
Sophie (pseudonym), senior A&E nurse in a hospital in the south of England, member of the Royal College of Nursing.
Royal College of Emergency Medicine (cited for data on deaths).
Royal College of Nursing (cited for raising corridor care issue).
Sources: The Guardian
