British nurses say patients are dying in hospital corridors

Patients are dying in the corridors of British hospitals. Pregnant women receive abortion treatments in semi-public settings. Patients with urinary incontinence are cleaned next to vending machines.

These are just some of the shocking discoveries a report It was published on Thursday by the Royal College of Nursing, the British nursing federation. In the report, nurses described an overcrowding crisis which they said had led to a breakdown in care, confidentiality and dignity across the country’s National Health Service.

“Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital life-saving equipment,” Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the union, said in a statement. statement.

She added in the report that the country’s healthcare workers have reached a “breaking point.”

The 460-page report, which includes anonymous testimonials from more than 5,400 nurses surveyed from December 18, 2024, to January 11, is The latest SOS from British medical professionals. A union spokesman said the union granted its members anonymity in order to speak freely, prevent repercussions from employers and protect patients’ privacy.

Doctors and nurses are struggling to care for nearly 70 million people in the UK after years of challenges, including chronic underinvestment in the NHS under Conservative-led governments that were in power from 2010 to 2024.

“This should be a watershed moment, a line in the sand,” Dr. Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said in an article. statement.

Dr. Boyle was one of many pioneering British doctors to do this Express solidarity With the nurses. He described the testimonies as “horrific.”

“The losses to employees are clear,” he added. “People cry, feel frustrated, angry, and in some cases give up on their careers because they can’t face going to work every day and not being able to provide the level of care they want.”

The nurses’ report, which describes a ‘corridor care’ crisis, comes just months after another huge report found the NHS was… In “critical” condition..

Patients routinely I waited hours For treatment, doctors tried to work without sufficient medical equipment or space in hospitals, according to that report, which the government commissioned to publish in September. It found that national satisfaction with the beleaguered health service was “at an all-time low”.

The repercussions of the collapse in care extend far beyond the hospital corridors. Many Britons see a functioning NHS – which was created after World War II and provides free health care at the point of use to all Britons through a tax-funded model – as a core commitment of their government.

Coronavirus pandemic Discussions were reignited About its profound failures and the depth of those challenges. The dire state of the NHS has been a major factor in this crisis Labor PartyLoud victory In last year’s national elections: many Britons blame… Austerity measures Established by previous Conservative governments for the failure of health services.

Labor has promised reforms, but the nurses’ union pushed for a more forceful approach on Thursday. Professor Ranger, the union leader, called for “bold government action on the NHS which has been neglected for too long”, and warned ministers against “shirking responsibility”.

More than 90 percent of participants in the union’s survey said that patient care was compromised when provided in an inappropriate environment.

The report described how patients had to wait for CPR while nurses struggled to maneuver through a narrow corridor to get there in time. Nurses said patients often suffer from unsanitary conditions. Some were sprayed with each other’s vomit. Patients with urinary incontinence are cleaned in the corridors without privacy.

The toll is particularly clear for people who die. Patients had to face their death in narrow and crowded spaces, according to the report, without any privacy. A nurse said that a body was discovered in the hallways hours after the death.

The report comes amid growing concerns about recruitment in the NHS, which is struggling to recruit and retain young talent.

Several nurses who responded to the union’s survey, including one who described caring for about 40 patients in hallways and overflow spaces each day, said the inability to provide dignified care in appropriate spaces has led to a collapse in staff morale. Junior doctors They went on strike To protest Low wages and long working hours.

Nurses They also went on strike in Recent years To demand higher wages, better working conditions and help try to address the severe staff shortage. In the report, many nurses said they were exhausted and were leaving the NHS