'This has to end': ‘Devastating' nurse testimonies lay bare crisis in Scotland's NHS

A survey found ‘harrowing’ examples of vulnerable patients being treated in corridors

Patients are going into cardiac arrest in Scottish hospital corridors and becoming incontinent because they cannot access toilet facilities due to overcrowding, according to “devastating” new testimonies from nursing staff.

A survey of NHS nurses across the UK shows almost seven in ten say they are frequently delivering care in overcrowded or unsuitable places, like corridors, offices, converted cupboards and even a windowless shower room.

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The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the experiences of more than 5,000 nursing staff, including almost 500 from Scotland, highlighted a collapse in care standards, with patients routinely coming to harm.

Nine in 10 of those surveyed in Scotland said patient safety is being compromisedNine in 10 of those surveyed in Scotland said patient safety is being compromised
Nine in 10 of those surveyed in Scotland said patient safety is being compromised | PA

Demoralised staff working in Scotland report caring for multiple patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors, suction and other lifesaving equipment.

They have witnessed patients going into cardiac arrest while in a corridor, report patients being left with no access to bathroom facilities or buzzers, and having to deliver personal care to incontinent patients with no privacy.

Nine in ten of those surveyed in Scotland said patient safety was being compromised.

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One nurse told how a 100-year-old lady was left “lying on a trolley”. Another recalled how a “very unwell, acutely psychotic patient” was forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor.

“I am now in the process of leaving the NHS due to the pressure and culture after a ten-year nursing career,” one respondent said. “It is fraying at the seams and has left me with mental health problems and trauma.”

Another spoke of crying in the linen closet because she was so frustrated by the poor standard of care.

One said: “This elderly patient who was bed bound was doubly incontinent and needed a space in private to be cleaned - our only option was the charge nurse’s office.”

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Others spoke of cramming an extra bed into the middle of a four-bed bay area. “I have nursed patients who have ended up having cardiac arrests and dying in the middle of a four-bedded bay,” one said.

Many respondents spoke of confidentiality being breached as a result of overcrowding, with one nurse recalling discussing miscarriage care options with a couple in a corridor.

“We frequently deliver corridor care,” said another nurse. “It often means switching patients in and out of private spaces to deliver personal care – the indignity of patients who are unable to get up to walk to the toilet either being incontinent in the corridor or having to wait for a space for us to provide bed pans/commodes etc.”

One nurse turned paramedic said they had “never experienced such a broken system”, adding: “As a nurse, it is heart-breaking to provide care in corridors and storage rooms where there is no humanity for anyone involved.

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“Families are being given sad news in corridors and also sometimes not even being allowed into see their families due to lack of space in departments.

“I worked throughout Covid-19 and although it was a horrendous experience, this lack of care in the broken system is worse. People are dying as a result of ambulances being held at hospitals and calls are eventually being responded to almost two days after 999 has been called. This has to end, now.”

Tory MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane, his party’s health spokesman, said the devastating report “must be an urgent wake-up call for SNP ministers”.

He said: “The scandalous failure of successive SNP health secretaries has left nurses to deal with complete chaos in hospital corridors. That has put suffering patients in appalling situations where their safety is at risk and they are left without access to basic facilities.

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“Despite the best efforts of dedicated nurses, they are simply unable to deliver the care patients require due to a lack of resources and planning from the SNP Government.

“Neil Gray must act on these findings from the frontline and urgently adopt our common-sense plans to prioritise investing in frontline care, and ensure the NHS is there for patients at all times.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP called it “a harrowing account of the pressures that nurses are facing in their workplaces”.

He said: "Caring for patients in corridors, cupboards and car parks has become disturbingly common.

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"The health secretary should make a statement to Parliament making clear that this is unacceptable and he will be making the necessary resources available to get healthy patients home and sick ones the standard of treatment they deserve."

Colin Poolman, director of RCN Scotland, said: “This report makes for distressing reading and should be a wake-up call for the Scottish Government.

“The impact goes far beyond the doors of emergency departments, with nursing staff across many acute settings desperately struggling as they are forced to create space in clinical areas for additional unstaffed beds or provide patient care in corridors and other inappropriate locations.

“This is completely unacceptable for patient safety and staff wellbeing. No patient should ever have to suffer the risk or indignity of being cared for in such a way – yet it has been allowed to become normal practice.

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“The Scottish Government must 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.

“They must also commit to long term action and investment focused on addressing the nursing workforce shortages and building sustainable capacity both within in the NHS and most importantly within community and social care.”

Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, 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."

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