The Chief Nursing Officer at the NHS trust operating Salford Royal Hospital said action is being taken after it was revealed that 52 patients a day were cared for in corridors or makeshift treatment areas across its sites.
There were 1,622 instances of a patient receiving corridor care in May for more than 45 minutes at hospital A&E departments run by Northern Care Alliance, NHS figures published on Thursday showed.
A patient is classed as receiving corridor care when treatment does not take place in a clinically appropriate and safe setting. The criteria for such settings include privacy, access to food, water and toilets, and the ability to turn off lights and reduce noise to allow sleep.
Northern Care Alliance controls four Greater Manchester hospitals in Salford, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale and serves one million people.
Overall, 2.3% of patients treated by the trust’s services received corridor care in May, as nearly 3,000 people across the country were treated in inappropriate settings.
Their Chief Nursing Officer, Juliette Cosgrove, told Salford Now that the organisation is working to improve the ease with which patients receive care in the right place.
“Our priority is delivering safe, high‑quality, compassionate care,” she said. Due to high demand, we sometimes use all available space to ensure patients are assessed and treated safely.
“We don’t want to be looking after our patients on corridors, and we are taking action to improve flow through our hospitals.
“Alongside improvements within our Emergency Department including stronger front-door triage, expanded Same Day Emergency Care and better use of Urgent Treatment Centres and Virtual Wards, we are focused on improving patient flow.”
The Northern Care Alliance has the 13th highest number of patients receiving corridor care, according to the survey of 162 trusts.
Ms Cosgrove noted that the trust is in the process of launching a new programme to get patients assessed, treated and discharged more efficiently.
“We are launching Safer Sooner, a clinically led programme to strengthen discharge processes, improve ward and board rounds, and better manage patients’ expectations around going home. This is central to improving flow and supporting more timely care.
“Working closely with system partners, we are already seeing improvements in our four-hour performance.”
These figures cover patients who are being treated within a ward but not in a designated bed space and are based on a snapshot of patient numbers at 8am each morning.
They have been published as the NHS waiting list for planned hospital treatment rose for the first time in six months, more information can be found here.
