Corridor care ‘not acceptable’, Constance says ahead of NHS winter period

Corridor care in hospitals is “not acceptable” and makes NHS jobs harder, the Health Secretary has said ahead of the busy winter period.

Angela Constance said she would have a “laser focus” on building capacity for healthcare in the community in order to reduce pressure on hospitals.

Earlier this month, it emerged the number of patients waiting more than four hours in accident and emergency had reached its highest total on record in August.

Ms Constance spoke about the winter pressures on the NHS as she appeared on the BBC’s Sunday Show programme.

It was put to her that the Scottish Government does not record statistics on corridor care in hospitals.

She said: “So, I want to remedy that.

“What I am absolutely clear about is that corridor care isn’t acceptable. It’s not acceptable for patients or their families.”

The Health Secretary also said corridor care makes the job of NHS staff “harder” and she had been clear about her expectations on the issue, saying “we cannot accept corridor care”.

Discussing capacity in hospitals, she said: “The bigger issue is around reducing avoidable hospital admissions.

“Hence, we have to have a laser focus on building capacity in the community, ensuring people know which service to approach at the right time.”

Dr Fiona Hunter, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said she was “completely terrified” of the looming winter pressures on the NHS.

Speaking on the Sunday show, she said: “There’s been a toxic normalisation of corridor care”.

She added: “We know that excess mortality happens when you languish on a hospital trolley for more than 12 hours.”

Responding to the Health Secretary’s comments, Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Dame Jackie Baillie said: “People are really concerned about the state of our NHS, with exhausted staff and patients waiting in pain.

“People desperately need to know the Government has a plan.

“The cabinet secretary called corridor care unacceptable, but her predecessors denied it existed and she can’t commit to recording it properly, so we understand the scale of it.

“On social care there was no commitment to councils for additional funding for care despite an acknowledgment that tackling delayed discharge is essential to getting waiting times down.

“There are no answers on how social care fits into the SNP’s plan to rip up local government across Scotland.”