NHS staff brace for ‘corridor care disaster’ after busiest October ever

ITV News Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry breaks down the latest NHS figures, as hospitals prepare another winter of pressure
A&E departments in England have experienced their busiest October on record, as NHS leaders warned the service is heading into winter under “more pressure than ever before”.
The latest figures from NHS England reveal 49,592 people had to wait more than 12 hours in A&E – the third highest monthly figure since comparable records began in 2010.
Meanwhile, 73% of patients were seen within four hours in October, down slightly on the previous month and well below the original NHS target of 95%.
Overall there were 2.36 million A&E attendances in England last month, and the waiting list for non-urgent treatment still stands at 7.57 million – despite falling by around 70,000.
Nurses are warning that a “corridor care disaster” is unfolding in England’s hospitals and patients are being put in danger.
The figures come as Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced failing hospitals will be named and shamed in league tables, with NHS managers sacked if they cannot improve patient care and fix their finances.
At the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford A&E waiting times are better than the national average, last month 74% of patients were seen with 4 hours.
A consultant sees the most urgent patients soon after they arrive, while a nurse is stationed in the waiting room taking vitals to ensure patients are triaged safely.
These changes help to speed up care, but the hospital is now facing unprecedented demand.
Dr Georgina Blanco, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, says staff are facing this winter with “degree of trepidation”.
She explains high numbers of patients attending A&E can easily lead to overcrowding and corridor care.
“It’s really disheartening when we aren’t able to deliver the best care to patients.
“It can be incredibly difficult.”
The hospital is currently seeing 10% more patients than this time last year. Not helped by recent waves of respiratory illness, Covid and sickness bugs.
“I came up the other day and was told there was a six-hour queue, so I just didn’t bother and went straight home,” explains Bernard, an A&E patient with a suspected blot clot.
At the Royal Surrey County Hospital around 10% of their 500 beds are occupied by people who are well-enough to be discharged, but stuck waiting for care in the community. This leads to bottlenecks elsewhere in the hospital.
The latest NHS England figures show an average of 12,340 hospital beds per day last month were occupied by people ready to be discharged.
Dr Bill Jewsbury, Medical Director at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, says staff are nervous about the winter months.
He said: “We know that we’re likely to see some real challenges.
“I speak for all of us when I say that we hate seeing patients in corridors, it’s not what we want to do. But sometimes it’s what we have to do.
“It can be heartbreaking… It’s not the care we want to give, but it is a reality.”
Patricia Marquis, Executive Director of the Royal College of Nursing warns “a corridor care disaster is unfolding in front of our eyes.”
“Near record numbers are languishing on trolleys after being deemed sick enough to be admitted, whilst thousands cannot be discharged due to a lack of community care.”
“The cold weather hasn’t properly arrived, and this situation threatens only to worsen. Nursing staff are again sounding the alarm for patient safety.”
Dr Vicky Price, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, says “This data shows there is a desperate need for the government to turn its attention to the threat of winter and the actions it needs to take to reduce the impact of the inevitable crisis we will face in hospitals over the coming months.
“We have grave concerns that focus is being placed in the wrong areas, with talk about the introduction of league tables, penalties and consultations distracting from the pressing need to deliver meaningful solutions on the ground right now.”
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Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting has welcomed the “progress” on the backlog for elective surgery.
“Since we ended the strikes, we have been ramping up delivery of an extra 40,000 extra appointments every week.
“The extra investment in the Budget for new surgical hubs and scanners, plus the reforms announced this week to drive up productivity, will cut waiting lists further and get patients seen faster.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “The NHS is going into winter under more pressure and busier than ever before, with another record month for A&E and ambulance services before we even start to see a further spike of pressure caused by colder weather and the spread of winter viruses.
“While we continue to treat record numbers and deal with record demand, it is clear that is still much further to go to return performance to the levels patients should expect and we will continue to work with government on the 10 Year Health Plan to address the needs of patients.”
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