Tag: Royal College of Nursing

‘Ashamed and angry’ nursing staff speak out on corridor care

The RCN says the practice must end urgently, as testimony from members shows its damaging effects

Corridor care has become such a permanent fixture in NHS hospitals that nursing staff are in danger of “losing all hope”, with collapsing care standards devastating morale, according to new testimony from nursing staff.

The Royal College of Nursing is reiterating its call for urgent, fully funded action plans to eradicate the practice, including investment in beds, the nursing workforce, community services and social care.

Nursing staff say the lack of action by governments has left them feeling “ashamed”, “angry”, and “embarrassed” about the unsafe, undignified care they are forced to deliver to patients.

The RCN is aware of a worsening picture this week as hospitals declare critical incidents and is encouraging members to raise any concerns about patient or staff safety. Read on to find out how we can offer practical support.

Our members report shocking examples of a patient being left in a chair for four days, while another patient died after choking undetected in a corridor.

Nursing staff have also resorted to holding up sheets to protect patient dignity when performing intimate procedures, with a corridor in one hospital so tightly packed that an elderly patient was left to eat next to someone vomiting.

One nurse in the south of England said: “We would not treat animals like this in a veterinary practice, so why in a hospital?”

Another, working in an NHS board in Scotland, told us: “It’s very stressful and distressing at times. There’s a sense of frustration and hopelessness.”

A mental health nurse in Wales said corridor care is a “regular occurrence”, with staff having to increase monitoring because unsecured corridors contain objects and fittings that raise the risk of self‑harm and suicide.

A nurse in Northern Ireland said: “I’ve had resuscitation attempts in the waiting room and corridor due to no capacity. It is inhuman and undignified.”

Practical support for nursing staff

More than 18 months since we declared a national emergency on corridor care, and a year after we released a report featuring devastating testimony from our members, it is clear corridor care is being normalised and entrenched.

We believe this latest testimony shows the unacceptable practice of corridor care is spreading beyond emergency departments, including acute assessment units, respiratory wards, surgical wards and elderly care wards.

Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said: “This new testimony from nursing staff reveals once again the devastating human consequences of corridor care, with patients forced to endure conditions which have no place in our NHS.”

As a result of our pressure, the Westminster government committed to publishing data on incidences of corridor care in England in February 2025, but so far has failed to do so.

The HSSIB – the patient safety investigation body for England – released a report in January 2026 on the widespread and normalised nature of corridor care, highlighting that some trusts are reportedly installing call bells and plug sockets in corridors.

As many as two in 10 (18%) UK adults have witnessed NHS care in non-clinical spaces such as a corridor in the last six months, according to new YouGov public polling. Further RCN analysis shows that when looking at only those who accessed care, the figure is more than one in three (37%).

The polling also shows the public want faster action on the issue, with seven in 10 (69%) of respondents in England saying Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s pledge to eradicate the practice by the end of parliament is “too slow”.

“The fact remains that there can be no safe, dignified care delivered in a corridor, store room or dining room, but that has become the norm,” Nicola added.

“It’s taking a terrible toll on staff, but ministers mustn’t allow them to lose hope. Decisive action can restore care standards and stop staff morale collapsing past the point of no return.

“Now is the time for ministers to stop dragging their feet and publish the data, alongside announcing a fully funded action plan and timeline for eradication.”

We want to thank our members who have raised their voices on corridor care to show why this issue matters and why it demands urgent action.

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RCEM: Nurses’ corridor care testimonies ‘distressing, damning’

NURSE: ‘CONDITIONS ARE A TYPE OF TORTURE’

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has described new testimony from nurses about the state of corridor care across the UK as ‘distressing, damning and exactly what we see every single day in our departments’.

And the College says this reinforces the need to address this crisis.

More than 430 nurses described the conditions they are working in and what patients are enduring in a survey conducted by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), that has been published today (15 January 2026).

Just some examples shared include how a nurse witnessed a patient left in a chair for four days, a patient dying after choking undetected in a corridor and nurses holding up sheets to try and protect the dignity of a patient while they underwent an intimate procedure.

One nurse went as far as saying the conditions are “a type of torture”.

Their accounts were gathered between 2 January and 9 January 2026, revealing nursing staff are treating patients in cold corridors, dining rooms, staff kitchens and offices.

The experiences of nurses build on and updates the RCN’s report published this week last year, titled ‘On the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis’.

Dr Ian Higginson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “This work by the Royal College of Nursing makes for incredibly tough reading. It’s distressing, damning and exactly what we see every single day in our departments.

“These deeply personal testimonies aren’t just stories – it’s the daily reality for patients and their nurses, who work alongside our members and their colleagues in Emergency Departments.

“Last year, when RCN released their first report on corridor care, we said that it must represent a watershed moment for the government, a line in the sand. Yet, 365 days on, the nurses voices show our patients are still in corridors, and there is no credible plan to get them out.

“So called ‘corridor care’ takes an immense toll on patients, who will be facing long waits in these conditions. And it takes an immense toll on our clinicians who are trying their upmost best to deliver quality care in these conditions.

“Our patients are being forced to endure these conditions, often for hours, if not days, because hospitals are full to bursting. We can’t move patients out of our departments, and into wards, because there are no available beds for them.

“Those beds are often taken up by patients who have experienced delays in their care, and who no longer need to be in hospital, but can’t leave, because of the lack of social care options.”

The new report also contains public polling which found:

  • As many as two in ten (18%) UK adults have witnessed care being delivered in a corridor or other non-clinical spaces in the last six months.
  • 88% of respondents across the UK said tackling unsafe care is an urgent priority
  • Meanwhile in England, 69% said Wes Streeting’s pledge to end corridor care by the end of parliament is too slow.

Dr Higginson said: “Nurses have given their verdict loud and clear. So too have our members, and the public – they all want the crisis in EDs tackled with urgency.  

“The Health Secretary said this week the government is ‘determined to consign corridor care to the history books’ and has committed to ending corridor care by the end of 2029. We welcome this. This problem can’t be solved quickly. It has been years in the making. But we do need a credible plan that starts now.

“We look forward to working with the government, and healthcare leaders, to implement meaningful solutions, many of which lie outside the walls of our EDs.”

It comes after the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Emergency Care last year published a report, compiled by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, on corridor care. It found almost one in five patients in EDs were being cared for in trolleys or chairs in corridors in England during summer. 

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Corridor care: ‘Devastating testimony’ shows patients are coming to harm

RCN report reveals harrowing statements from thousands of nursing staff, showing how widespread the issue is across the UK

Patients dying in corridors, lack of equipment and unsafe practices are the findings of a new RCN report documenting the experiences of more than 5,000 NHS nursing staff.

Almost 7 in 10 (66.8%) respondents to an RCN survey said they’re delivering care in over-crowded or unsuitable places – such as corridors, converted cupboards and even car parks – on a daily basis.

Demoralised nursing staff report caring for as many as 40 patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors, suction and other lifesaving equipment. They report female patients miscarrying in corridors, while others said they cannot provide adequate or timely CPR to patients having heart attacks.

More than 9 in 10 (90.8%) of those surveyed said patient safety is being compromised.

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.”

A nurse working in the South East region said: “We’ve had cardiac arrests in the corridor or in cubicles blocked by patients on trolleys in front of them, delaying lifesaving CPR. Despite these ‘never-events’, we still are obliged to deliver care in the corridor.”

More than a quarter of nursing staff surveyed said they weren’t told the corridor they were providing care in was classed as a “temporary escalation space”, as described by the NHS in England.

This means risk protocols and additional measures may not be in place to ease pressures and protect patients.

Nursing staff also report cancer patients being put in corridors and other inappropriate spaces. In the South West region, a nurse said: “It was a cancer patient whose immunity was very low because of her treatment. She should’ve been in a side room. She was very upset and crying. We put screens around her but she was in the path of the staff room and toilet, so it was constantly busy. That poor lady eventually passed away.”

Our report follows a letter sent to the Westminster government and NHS England from an RCN-led coalition, calling on officials to publish how many patients are being cared for in corridors and other inappropriate places.

Nicola added: “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. Ministers cannot shirk responsibility and need to recognise that recovering patient care will take new investment, including building a strong nursing workforce.”

Read our full report to discover the extent of corridor care across the UK, as told by our members.

Whenever you see concerning practices in the workplace, including corridor care, raise a concern in line with your employer’s policy. Raising concerns isn’t always easy, but it’s the right thing to do.

Read our guide on how to do this, created to help nursing staff based in both NHS and independent health and care settings.

You can find a package of resources to support you on our website, including a template letter, and member checklist to help with raising concerns and more.

‘Best and final offer’: NHS staff offered record high pay rise

Average uplift of 7.5% the highest offer in the UK

A ‘best and final offer’ has been made to NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) workers following pay negotiations with trade unions and employers.

The record high pay offer, the best in the UK, will ensure that these front line workers will receive pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751, which is a further improvement on the existing offer for staff in Bands 5-8A. For the lowest paid this represents an uplift of 11.3%, and delivers an average uplift of 7.5%.

This increased offer was made after constructive negotiations between the Scottish Government and NHS unions. In a final offer made to trade unions, the new deal is worth an additional £515 million in 2022-23 and now includes a package of progressive measures to promote staff and patient safety, support long-term workforce sustainability and to recognise the breadth of skills and experience of NHS Scotland staff.

The settlement ensures that NHS staff would remain the best paid anywhere in the UK. It gives all frontline NHS Scotland AfC staff in bands 1-7 a pay premium of between £1,149 and £2,834 over their counterparts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Agenda for Change pay offer for 2022-23 will deliver the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in over 40 years. The deal will benefit more than 160,000 employees including nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and healthcare support staff.  

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “We have engaged tirelessly with trade union representatives over recent weeks, leaving no stone unturned to reach an offer which responds to the key concerns of staff across the service.

“This best and final pay offer of over half a billion pounds underlines our commitment to supporting our fantastic NHS staff. A newly qualified nurse would see a pay rise of 8.7%, and experienced nurses and would get uplifts of between £2,450 and £2,751.

“We are making this offer at a time of extraordinary financial challenges to the Scottish Government.

“We have made the best offer possible to get money into the pockets of hard working staff and to avoid industrial action, in what is already going to be an incredibly challenging winter. If the offer is agreed this pay uplift will also be backdated to April.

“Finally, I would urge the UK Government to get back to the negotiating table with the unions. This settlement has been shaped by the unions’ constructive approach and I hope it is backed by their members.”

BACKGROUND

The new offer also includes a review into reducing the working week to 36 hours, a commitment to review the job descriptions of Band 5 roles and ensuring protected learning time for specific groups, such as staff on agreed learning and development schemes.

TABLE

BandpointsScottish 2022/23 ratesProposed increase% this representsHourly rate
Band 11£21,692£2,20511.32%£11.09
Band 21£21,814£2,20511.24%£11.16
 2£23,820£2,20510.20%£12.18
Band 31£23,914£2,20510.16%£12.23
 2£25,808£2,2059.34%£13.20
Band 41£25,914£2,2059.30%£13.25
 2£28,187£2,2058.49%£14.42
Band 51£28,384£2,2808.73%£14.52
 2£30,329£2,2808.13%£15.51
 3£35,365£2,4507.44%£18.09
Band 61£35,522£2,4507.41%£18.17
 2£37,087£2,4507.07%£18.97
 3£43,286£2,5506.26%£22.14
Band 71£43,422£2,5506.24%£22.21
 2£45,080£2,5506.00%£23.06
 3£50,506£2,6605.56%£25.83
Band 8A 1£53,513£2,5485.00%£27.37
 2£57,767£2,7515.00%£29.54
Band 8B 1£63,530£2,2053.60%£32.49
 2£68,223£2,2053.34%£34.89
Band 8C 1£75,711£2,2053.00%£38.72
 2£81,426£2,2052.78%£41.65
Band 8D 1£90,590£2,2052.49%£46.33
 2£94,629£2,2052.39%£48.40
Band 91£107,840£2,2052.09%£55.15
 2£112,673£2,2052.00%£57.63

RCN Scotland Board members will, in the coming days, be considering the details of a revised NHS pay offer from Scottish government.

The pay offer was made today (24 November) following negotiations between the RCN and other health trade unions and the Scottish government. 

The RCN paused a formal announcement on strike action in Scotland while negotiations took place this week. 

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said: “As always it is our members who will decide what happens next in relation to the pay offer. The first step in that process is for our board to review the detail of the offer.

“That will happen in the next few days. The revised offer still does not meet our members’ expectations, which is disappointing, but the Scottish government is saying this is their best offer.

“We will update members once that process has taken place.  

“I appreciate it may be frustrating for our members in Scotland, the majority of whom voted very strongly in favour of taking strike action. It was that mandate that encouraged the Scottish government to re-open negotiations. It is right that RCN Scotland Board members consider the offer in the usual way.”

Record pay offer for NHS staff – but it’s not enough, say nurses

All NHS workers offered £2,205 pay rise but nurses to go ahead with strike ballot

NHS staff in Scotland are set to receive a record pay rise of £2,205 – an average 7% pay uplift – to help tackle the cost of living crisis and retain staff during the tougher winter months. 

This increased offer was made after constructive negotiations between the Scottish Government and NHS Unions, which lasted into the early hours of Friday morning (21 October).

The offer would mean the lowest paid seeing a rise of more than 11%, with qualified nursing staff receiving up to 8.45%, helping the lowest paid staff through the cost of living crisis. 

If agreed, the pay uplift, which amounts to almost half a billion pounds (£480m), will benefit more than 160,000 employees including nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and healthcare support staff.  

This is the largest pay offer given to NHS Scotland Agenda for Change staff since devolution and will mean they remain the best paid in the UK. If accepted, the offer will be backdated to 1 April 2022, and could be added to pay cheques in time for Christmas.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “I am grateful to trade union colleagues and NHS employers for constructive discussions on pay.

“This has been another exceptionally challenging year for our health service and we have a difficult winter ahead, but I am pleased that we are able to recognise the service and dedication of our healthcare and support staff with this pay offer.

“We owe NHS staff a debt of gratitude for leading us through the greatest public health crisis in recent history.

“This improved pay offer – which is the largest of its kind since devolution – reflects their hard work and will go a long way to help them through the cost of living crisis. We are rightly focussing the biggest increases for those who are the lowest paid, as we know the cost crisis is impacting them disproportionately.”

However the Scottish government’s latest pay offer remains a real terms pay cut for the majority of nursing staff, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

The offer comes after discussions with the health trade unions, Cabinet Secretary, Deputy First Minister, Scottish government officials and employers.

Scottish government failed to take the opportunity to recognise the clinical skill, expertise and leadership of registered nurses.

When compared to the previous offer from May 2022, this offer sees a lower percentage increase for those higher up the Agenda for Change bandings. The RCN has called for an across the board pay increase that is 5% above inflation.

Julie Lamberth said: “Nurse staffing levels are dangerously low. We need fair pay to attract more people into nursing and to keep the skilled nurses we already have. 

“We want to be able to provide the best possible care for our patients but too often, the lack of staff and demand on services is standing in our way. Too many of us are making the decision to walk away from the profession. The Scottish Government has the power to stop this. The people of Scotland deserve better, so do we. Please post you ballot back today.”

RCN Scotland Director Colin Poolman said: “Yet again the Scottish Government has failed to listen to our members concerns for the safety of their patients. They have failed to recognise the safety critical role of nursing staff and their essential contribution to our NHS and our nation’s health.

“Under this proposal, registered nurses continue to face a significant real terms pay cut. This is even more stark with the news that inflation reached a 40 year high. Many are making difficult decisions about how to heat their homes, feed their families and travel to work while carrying the burden of being unable to do the best for their patients due to severe staff shortages.

“Our ballot for strike action continues. Today’s offer will make our members more determined to have their voice heard. I would urge members to vote in favour of strike and to post back their ballot papers now.”

They think it’s all over: Boris Johnson set to sweep away Covid regulations in England

Living with Covid doesn’t mean ignoring it, says BMA ahead of PM announcement

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his latest “living with Covid” recovery plan will return people’s freedom as he prepares to scrap the legal duty to self-isolate in England.

The prime minister will meet the Cabinet later this morning before updating parliament on his plans this afternoon.

Mr Johnson said the end to restrictions would “mark a moment of pride as we begin to learn to live with Covid” – despite serious concerns being expressed by health professionals.

Health organisations have warned that Johnson’s determination to sweep away Covid regulations are premature.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ‘FOLLOWING THE SCIENCE’?

Responding to calls from NHS leaders for free Covid tests and self-isolation rules to continue ahead of the UK Government’s Living With Covid Strategy announcement today, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “It’s clear that we will have to learn to adjust to the reality of Covid-19.

“However, the BMA agrees with NHS leaders that living with Covid doesn’t mean ignoring its continued harm to many, and must not result in removing protections to some of the most vulnerable in our society. 

“Scrapping all restrictions and allowing the infection to spread in an unmonitored and unfettered manner would be damaging to the health of millions, including for those who go on to suffer Long Covid symptoms.

“Without access to free testing for the public or a legal requirement for the sick to self-isolate, protecting others from illness and surveillance of the disease and its prevalence vanishes; we won’t know where outbreaks are happening, whether they are circulating among more vulnerable populations, and this means local public health teams will be lacking key information to be able to respond effectively to Covid outbreaks in their local areas.

“Charging for tests  will only discourage people from checking if they have Covid, especially if their symptoms are mild enough for them to continue socialising and mixing with others.  

“Currently, case rates remain exceptionally high. When Plan B measures were introduced in December, there were 7,373 patients in hospital in the UK. While rates are now falling, the latest figure sits at 11,721. The ONS also estimates that around 1 in 20 people in England were infected last week, and there continues to be significant work absence due to Covid. 

“The decision to remove all restrictions is not based on current evidence and is premature. It clearly hasn’t been guided by data or done in consultation with the healthcare profession. 

“As the BMA has previously warned, Covid poses a serious risk to public health as well as NHS capacity if cases are allowed to spread rapidly again. Living with Covid-19 doesn’t mean ignoring it. As well as keeping free testing and self-isolation measures, it’s vital that the ONS infection survey carries on, and that local authorities are supported to contain outbreaks with necessary restrictions. 

“This is particularly important for protecting the vulnerable, and Government must ensure that these groups are allowed to live as normal a life as possible as the pandemic subsides. This means giving them access to free FFP2/3 masks where required so they can protect themselves, and providing healthcare professionals with clear, clinical guidance to advise them and other patients in the community.

“Healthcare settings are places which people attend to get better not to get sick, so it would be totally wrong to remove the protections in healthcare settings that currently exist, such as mask wearing, without discussion with healthcare workers and without evidence to support it.

“Only yesterday, the World Health Organisation released updated guidance for contact tracing and quarantine, saying in its report that any interruption or shortening of these measures will increase the risk of onward transmission.

“Of course, we all want to see a time when measures are no longer needed. However, relaxing them must be done sensibly, based on data, and gradually, in consultation with the profession, and not at the cost of public health or our already-stretched NHS.”

Leaving it up to individuals and employers to decide on isolation periods will place health care staff and patients at risk, the Royal College of Nursing has warned.

the government is expected to confirm plans to end the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive COVID-19 test, in a move described as signalling the end of the pandemic.

But the pandemic is far from over for health care staff, and the lack of clarity and guidance on isolation rules going forwards could put our members and their patients at risk.

By “passing the buck” to nursing staff and employers to decide when to work if staff fall sick with COVID-19, the government is leaving the way open to increased infection rates and yet more pressure on an already overworked NHS.

The RCN is calling for the government to produce a specific plan for nursing staff working in health and social care which supports them when unwell.

RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “Ending the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test is a big leap in the dark. The government has yet to present any scientific evidence to support its plan.

“The public messaging around this is very mixed and unclear: with any other highly infectious disease you would be expected – and supported – to stay away from work if you caught it, yet with COVID-19 we’re being told you should learn to live with it. This doesn’t add up.

“Health and social care isn’t like other sectors – staff treat some of the most vulnerable in society whose wellbeing, and their own, mustn’t be put at risk.”

The RCN also stresses that nursing staff must continue to have access to free lateral flow tests for their and their patients’ sake amid reports they could be scrapped.

Despite advice and warnings from a range of health professionals the Prime Minister seems determined to take the gamble and sweep away Covid regulations, however, and whatever is decided in England will have an impact on public health in the other nations of the UK.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce the Scottish Government’s response tomorrow.

Record winter funding package as NHS and social care prepare to face “toughest winter ever”

“The current situation is not sustainable; it is dangerous for patients and becoming incredibly difficult for staff.” – Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland

A substantial new investment of over £300 million in hospital and community care has been unveiled to help tackle what is anticipated to be the toughest winter the NHS and social care system has ever faced.

The new multi-year funding will support a range of measures to maximise capacity in our hospitals and primary care, reduce delayed discharges, improve pay for social care staff, and ensure those in the community who need support receive effective and responsive care.

The NHS and Care Winter Package of additional funding includes:

  • Recruiting 1,000 additional NHS staff to support multi-disciplinary working
  • £40 million for ‘step-down’ care to enable hospital patients to temporarily enter care homes, or receive additional care at home support, with no financial liability to the individual or their family towards the cost of the care home
  • Over £60 million to maximise the capacity of care at home services
  • Up to £48 million will be made available to increase the hourly rate of social care staff to match new NHS band 2 staff
  • £20 million to enhance Multi-Disciplinary Teams, enable more social work assessments to be carried out and support joint working between health and social care
  • £28 million of additional funding to support primary care
  • £4.5 million available to Health Boards to attract at least 200 registered nurses from outwith Scotland by March 2022
  • £4 million to help staff with their practical and emotional needs, including pastoral care and other measures to aid rest and recuperation

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “As the winter period approaches, it is vital that we do all we can to maximise the capacity of the NHS and social care system. That’s why I’m setting out our £300 million NHS and Care Winter Package today.

“We cannot look at the NHS in isolation we must take a whole systems approach and these measures will help alleviate pressure across the NHS and social care.

“This significant new investment will help get people the care they need as quickly as possible this winter. Bolstering the caring workforce by increasing their numbers, providing them with additional support, and increasing the wages of social care staff.

“We’ve previously provided funding to ensure that adult social care staff are paid at least the real living wage. Today we’re going further and our new investment will ensure that adult social care staff who are currently paid the real living wage will get a pay rise of over 5%

“Measures I have announced today will help patients whose discharge has been delayed waiting for care and help get them out of hospital and on to the next stage in their care. This helps the individual by getting them the right care, and helps the wider system by ensuring the hospital capacity is being used by those who need that specialist level of clinical care.

“This £300 million of new funding will also fund increases in social care capacity in the community and in primary care – helping to ease the pressure on unpaid carers.

“Our NHS, social care staff and social work staff have been remarkable throughout the pandemic and today’s additional investment will help support them to deliver care to people across Scotland this winter.”

Meanwhile,the latest Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland published by the Scottish Governmentyesterday for August 2021 show that four-hour performance has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive month, again reaching a record low – while the number of patients staying in a major Emergency Department for 12-hours or more reaches a record high.

In August 2021 there were 117,552 attendances to major Emergency Departments across Scotland.

Data show that four-hour performance reached a new record low, with 75.4% of patients being seen within four-hours. One in four patients stayed in a major Emergency Department for four-hours or more before being admitted, transferred or discharged.

The number of 12-hour stays in August 2021 nearly doubled when compared to July 2021. 1,346 patients stayed in a major Emergency Department for 12-hours or more, compared to 760 in July 2021. This figure increased for the fourth consecutive month and it is the highest number of 12-hour stays since records began.

Data also show that 5,279 patients spent eight hours or more in a major Emergency Department. This is the highest figure since records began. The number of patients delayed by eight-hours or more increased for the fourth consecutive month.

Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said: “The challenge for health care workers is growing significantly. In Scotland, the army have been called in to assist the ambulance services.

“In Emergency Departments, long stays are rising drastically, and one in four patients are staying in an Emergency Department for more than four-hours. It is extremely worrying. These pressures are likely to mount further, and performance deteriorate even more as we head into winter.

“We are seriously concerned about patient safety. Long stays put patients at risk, particularly vulnerable patients, and especially with covid still present in the community. We urgently need a plan to increase flow throughout the hospital, to reduce exit block, to prevent crowding, and to ensure that patients who need it can quickly be moved into a bed for their care.

“The current situation is not sustainable; it is dangerous for patients and becoming incredibly difficult for staff.

“We welcome this afternoon’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf MSP, including the recruitment of more staff and funding for hospital and community care. We hope that these measures will begin to alleviate pressures across the health system, and in particular reduce ambulance handover delays, long stays in Emergency Departments and exit block in our hospitals.

“However, while we welcome this investment, short-term cash injections do little to resolve long-term problems. We must see a long-term workforce plan that includes measures to retain health workers, particularly Emergency Medicine staff, as well as a long-term strategy for social care.”

Responding to the Scottish Government’s announcement to uplift care workers pay to just over £10 an hour, GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said: “If we want to tackle the understaffing crisis in social care then we need to substantially increase the basic rate of pay, and for GMB that mean’s a £15 an hour minimum.  

“Many of our frontline services are already being delivered on the back of wages of just under or over £10 an hour, and we know this isn’t nearly enough. 

“To transform social care for the people who need it and the people who deliver it, particularly as we roll-out a national care service, then we must go further.”

The Scottish Government may also be facing industrial action from nursing staff over the winter …

NHS pay dispute in Scotland: Royal College of Nursing members to be asked about willingness to take industrial action

RCN members working for NHS Scotland are to be asked what industrial action they would be willing to take in support of their ongoing trade dispute with the Scottish government and NHS employers over pay. 

The trade dispute was lodged in June following the Scottish government’s decision to implement a single-year NHS pay deal for 2021-22 for Agenda for Change staff, without further discussing RCN members’ overwhelming rejection of the pay award.

The indicative ballot will open on 12 October and close on 8 November. 

Eligible members will receive information on the different forms of industrial action. 

The indicative ballot will be run by Civica, the independent scrutineer that organised the consultative ballot earlier this year. Eligible members will receive an email from Civica with a personal link to the online voting site on Tuesday 12 October. Weekly reminder emails will also be sent.

The result of the indicative ballot will not formally authorise industrial action. It will be used to inform the next steps RCN members might take.

Julie Lamberth, Chair of the RCN Scotland Board, said: “Industrial action is always a last resort but the current staffing challenges are causing unacceptable risks to patients and staff. The Scottish government has the opportunity to do the right thing by nursing.

“I would urge all eligible RCN members to seek out the available information on what taking industrial action means and what the implications of doing so might be. We need each member to make up their own mind and have their say in the ballot.”

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, added: “This is your chance to speak up – for your patients and your colleagues. Many of you rejected the pay offer and you know the link between fair pay and safe staffing.

“This is your opportunity to tell us what action you are prepared to take. To let the Scottish government know that the time to protect patient safety and value the safety critical role of nursing is now.”

UK Government must act now as report shows infection control guidelines ‘fundamentally flawed’

A report commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing shows that the government’s COVID-19 infection control guidelines, which are used across the UK, are “flawed and need replacing”.  

The report, written by independent experts, analysed a literature review which underpins the current guidance and found that the review met just four of the 18 criteria the experts deemed essential. Crucially, the report found that the review failed to consider a key way in which COVID-19 is transmitted – airborne infection – about which growing evidence has emerged during the pandemic.  

For these reasons, the experts concluded the review provided only a “superficial account” of the available COVID-19 evidence and that the current guidelines based on the review need replacing.

In the report, the authors Professor Dinah Gould, an Honorary Professor of Nursing at London’s City University, and Dr Edward Purssell, also from City University, said: “UK infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in health care settings, and the rapid reviews of the literature on which it was based, still identify droplet spread and hands as the major route, based on early advice from the World Health Organization (WHO).   
“Updated evidence indicates that aerosol spread is much more significant and the original advice from the WHO has been superseded. The UK guidelines are still based on this outdated evidence, however. They urgently need thorough revision and replacing.”  

The report highlights that the guidelines omit detail on the importance of ventilation and advise that higher level personal protective equipment (PPE) must only be provided in certain high-risk settings like intensive care, but that it’s up to individual health trusts to decide whether or not to provide them more widely to other staff.   

This has caused huge concern for members, especially with the emergence of highly infectious new COVID-19 variants. Members have also expressed concern about the lack of action on ventilation in UK hospitals as research suggests airborne transmission is a particular problem in poorly ventilated rooms. 

The RCN has repeatedly tried to engage the government on these issues and is calling for all NHS staff to be given a higher level of PPE as a precautionary measure pending the outcome of a review. 

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dame Donna Kinnair said: “We have been battling this pandemic for more than a year now. ‘Following the science’ is a hollow boast when we have evidence showing the flaws.   

“The report and its findings must launch an official review and not be swept under the carpet as an inconvenience.

“Health care workers need to know everything possible is being done to keep them protected. It is inadequate to say they have masks if they aren’t fit for purpose. Staff are scared for themselves and their families and left any longer it’ll turn to anger.”