Commenting on a report released today (18 November) by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine which found nine out of 10 UK A&E clinicians said they aren’t confident that their departments will cope well this winter and 94% think that patients are being put at risk due to the pressures currently being experienced, Dr Nick Murch, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “We share the concerns of our RCEM colleagues whom we work alongside in urgent and emergency care.
“Reduced numbers of beds within hospitals, stretched community services and chronically low social care capacity means that emergency departments and acute medical units often become bottlenecks, with patients unable to ‘flow’ through hospitals.
“Regrettably, corridor care has become a normal occurrence but is dangerous, undignified and a real source of upset for staff forced to treat patients in these circumstances daily.
“It impacts the ability to care for patients as staff working in corridors cannot examine or care for patients while maintaining their dignity – and, in some cases, safety – and it leads to lower morale and poorer mental health outcomes among the workforce.
“The summer months this year have seen stresses more severe than previous winters, without any obvious sustained lull in activity so far in 2024 and, as such, we head in to the coming months with trepidation and concern for the wellbeing of both our members and patients.
“We will continue to try to deliver high-quality care to those who need it most, but fear that ongoing inactivity by those in power – particularly around social care provision and delayed discharges – will lead to considerable avoidable harm.”