Expert teams to be sent to worst corridor care offenders in bid to end practice

Teams of experts will be deployed to NHS trusts with the highest rates of corridor care in a bid to end the “unacceptable, undignified” practice, the Government has announced.

The worst offending trusts will be given help to better understand data and improve patient flow as ministers aim to eradicate corridor care by the end of Parliament.

It comes as the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) revealed the locations of 40 new and expanded same-day emergency care and urgent care centres, which will allow patients to be treated faster and ease pressure on A&Es.

NHS England published its definition of corridor care in March.

Patients spending 45 minutes or more in clinically inappropriate areas of emergency departments or wards, such as hallways or waiting rooms are considered to have experienced corridor care.

Trusts have started collecting data on the practice, which will be published for the first time in May.

Under the new initiative, the Getting it Right First Time (Girft) team will work with leaders at the worst offending NHS trusts to offer support on improving patient flow, and understanding data to cope better with surges in demand.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “For too long, the normalisation of corridor care has been baked into our NHS – it’s unacceptable, undignified and exactly why this Government is shifting the dial for patients and staff.

“We’re sending in specialist teams of experts to identify the causes in some of the worst offending trusts and swiftly rectify the problems they find.

“That, plus new and expanded, urgent care centres will mean patients are treated more quickly and in the right place, while easing pressure on busy A&Es to care for the most serious cases.”

Mr Streeting made the announcement during a visit to Queen’s Hospital in Romford, which has provided 10,000 fewer hours of corridor care in February than in the same month last year.

The hospital’s emergency department has introduced a new assessment process which has cut waiting times by 37 minutes.

He told the Press Association: “It’s not plain sailing, we’ve seen record levels of demand in recent months, so it’s not easy for the team here, but if they can do it here, we can do it everywhere.

“For me, the most important thing is ending this culture where trolleys on corridors was normalised.”

Elsewhere, in Blackpool, 12-hour waits have fallen by 43%, driven by senior staff being present in A&E and using data to predict busy periods.

In Hull, ambulance handover delays are down by 27% and 12-hour waits have fallen by 47%, while the Royal Blackburn in East Lancashire has cut corridor care by allowing the medical director and chief nurse to take over prioritising the patients who should be sent home first.

Professor Tim Briggs, NHS England’s national director for clinical improvement, elective and UEC recovery, and chair of the Girft programme, said: “We have worked alongside these trusts to produce guidance and standards, as well as providing hands-on support, which will help them significantly reduce corridor care.

“Our focus over the next six months is to take what we’ve learned and cascade it across the whole NHS, so we can improve care for patients and eliminate this issue once and for all.”

Dr Ragit Varia, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM), welcomed the initiative.

He added: “Corridor care has unfortunately become commonplace and is unacceptable for both patients and staff, so we are pleased to see further action being taken as opposed to simply redefining the corridor.

“SAM has been increasingly concerned that a definition which is open to interpretation risks encouraging ‘gamification’ rather than genuine improvement, which is why more active intervention is necessary.”

Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Action to support trusts where corridor care is particularly challenging is encouraging, but we know from our members that the problem is ongoing and widespread.

“That’s why we need a plan to ease pressures everywhere, not just in those struggling the most. Corridor care happening anywhere is unacceptable, undignified and a risk to patient safety.

“There must never be a repeat of the desperate scenes last winter.”

Chris McCann, acting chief executive of Healthwatch England, added: “Even one case of corridor care is one too many.”

The Government has also confirmed the locations of 40 new and expanded urgent care sites, backed by £215.5 million.

The 10 new sites will be located across the Midlands, along with sites in Salisbury; at the Royal Free in London; and at Southampton General Hospital and Royal Hampshire County Hospital in the South East of England.

Centres in Stockport, Nottingham, Margate and Dorchester will be expanded.

Meanwhile, five new same day emergency care services will open in Liverpool, Barnsley, Southampton, Margate and Guildford, alongside 21 expanded sites across England.

Head of health at union Unison, Helga Pile, said: “Patients deserve and expect the best care possible from the NHS. Instead they’ve had excruciating waits, all too often in agony and unacceptable conditions.

“Efforts to improve the process are vital and long overdue. The extra help will be welcome at the hospitals struggling most, but a systemic and longer-term response is needed.

“That requires a proper plan to boost staffing generally, as well as for the new centres. Solving the social care bottleneck with a national care service is also critical.”