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.”

The RCN 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.”

The RCN’s full report can be downloaded here.

Chris McCann, deputy chief executive at Healthwatch England said: “These devastating stories shared by nurses in the report by the RCN echo experiences that people tell us about. This includes a 75-year-old who spent 15 hours in an A&E corridor chair, eight hours on a trolley in a storage room and a further two hours in a ward corridor before finally being admitted.

“We applaud nurses for calling out this undignified and unsafe practice. Patients say they’re witnessing stressed and overstretched staff who are valiantly trying to cope with these extreme pressures.

“As a first step, we’re joining with other organisations in calling on the government to commit to transparency on the true extent of corridor care by ensuring figures are published for each hospital on the number of people being held in corridors or other inappropriate spaces.

“We need to know how many patients are affected, why and for how long and the extent to which people are harmed as a result. This would help inform the new emergency care plan being developed by the government.

“The plan must also look at other NHS pressures that impact on hospital care, such as a lack of timely GP appointments, and hospital discharge delays due to problems arranging ongoing social care for people, which stop beds being freed up for new inpatients.”

Source: https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-corridor-care-devastating-testimony-shows-patients-are-coming-to-harm-160125

Services across the country have faced extreme pressures from one of the worst winters on record with 5,408 patients a day in hospital with flu in the first week of January.

NHS staff delivered 239, 679 more vaccinations so far this winter compared to the same period last year. This is despite starting the full programme rollout in October, a month later than last year, to offer people the best chance of protection based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

The latest figures show a total of 17,996,305 flu vaccinations were delivered by NHS staff between 1 September 2024 and 5 January 2025, compared to 17,756,626 between 1 August 2023 and 7 January 2024.

In recent weeks, flu vaccinations are up more than a quarter (27%) compared to last year with an extra 85,000 jabs delivered in the last 3 weeks. [figures up to January 5, 2025].

Covid, RSV and norovirus cases also remain high with more than 1,100 patients in hospital with Covid in the first week of January, as well as 626 patients with norovirus – up almost 50% on the same week last year (424). There was also an average of 72 children in hospital with RSV every day, up 47% from last year (49).

While the national vaccination booking system has now closed, those eligible can still get protected from flu, Covid-19 or RSV by visiting a COVID-19 walk-in vaccination site, or finding a pharmacy offering the flu vaccine.

England’s top doctor warned that with a deluge of flu cases, the public can play their part by getting vaccinated and continuing to use services as they usually would.

Ahead of winter, the NHS put in place measures to manage extra demand including upgraded 24 hour co-ordination centres, support for frequent users of A&E services, strengthening same day emergency care and providing more care in the community. 

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, said: “As hospitals face a deluge of flu cases, NHS staff have once again stepped up the vaccination programme this year, protecting almost 18 million people against flu this season – 239,000 more people than last winter.

“The NHS is experiencing one of the busiest ever starts to the year, with hospitals full to the rafters with flu cases as well as dealing with the recent cold snap.

“The best way to fight the flu is to get vaccinated, and so I would urge those eligible to contact their GP or local pharmacy to get a flu jab as soon as possible.

“People should continue to only use 999 and A&E in life-threatening emergencies and use NHS 111 and 111 online for other conditions, as well as using your GP and pharmacy in the usual way.” 

Minister for Public Health and Prevention Andrew Gwynne said: “Flu is a serious illness which has put significant pressure on the NHS this winter.

“Hospitals remain incredibly busy and the best way to protect yourself is by getting vaccinated, which also helps to ease pressure on the NHS.

“Thanks to all the incredible healthcare staff who have gone above and beyond to vaccinate 18 million people against flu.”

In line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, those currently eligible for a flu vaccine this year include:

• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2024
• primary school aged children (from reception to year 6)
• secondary school aged children (from year 7 to year 11)
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years
• those aged 65 years and over
• those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book)
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals.
• frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or personal health budgets, such as personal assistants

Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2025/01/nhs-jabs-tens-of-thousands-more-against-flu-than-last-winter/

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust’s Urology Department has gratefully received the funds through the STS Charity following the event last October. The charity is run by the Trust to support extras for staff and give patients a better experience during their hospital stay or visit.

Members of the Fans Museum and supporters of the walk with representatives of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust’s Urology Department with the cheque to the STS Charity.

Members of the team joined football fans for the six-mile walk, which took supporters from the Fans Museum in North Bridge Street in Sunderland to Minchella Ice Cream Parlour in Whitburn.

Among them was Sunderland AFC legends Gary Bennett and Mick Harford, who have been treated following their own prostate cancer diagnosis.

Michael Ganley, who founded the Fans Museum, led the event as part of its ongoing work to raise awareness of the disease. The museum runs a host of projects to support people’s wellbeing, health and education.

Stuart McCracken, the Trust’s Clinical Director for Urology said: “This is an outstanding effort and we are delighted to receive such a generous donation to our STS Charity.

“This does fantastic work to support our colleagues, but also helps patients have a better experience when they come to us for care. This cash will be used by our team for just that.

“As a department, we are very proud to say we are one of the best in the country.

“We’re always looking at how to use new treatments and improve the lives and wellbeing of those we care for.

“In addition to raising welcome funds, this walk and all the conversations around it help people think about getting checked out if they have symptoms and that is vital in making sure diseases such as prostate cancer are found as early as possible.”

The walk was inspired by Ron’s Marches, which have been set up by Luton Town fan Ron Hedley. Ron, who lives in Buckinghamshire, also has the disease and has already raised more than £50,000 for the cause.

Michael said: “In addition to the money raised and the work it will support, it’s so important we increase awareness and get men to talk and to have those conversations.

“We have people asking us for prostate cancer badges all the time, which is amazing, and they want to wear it, maybe not because they’ve had their own diagnosis, but because they want to show their support and get people thinking about it.”

Gary said: “The funds are very important to the Trust to help support the work which they do.

“The event means a lot to me and the people to raise awareness and makes them aware of the support from the Trust.”

Maureen Summerill is the sister of Mick Harford gathered for the presentation of the funds alongside her husband Geoff.

She said: “The money is important, but for my brother, it’s about raising awareness.

“He’s said to me that he’ll never forget that when he was at Luton Town’s ground and in front of 10,000 people, he decided to tell them about his diagnosis.

“Putting it in the public domain helped people think about going to see someone if they thought they had prostate cancer and that’s so important.

“On more than one occasion people have gone up to him and said, ‘You saved my life’ and that’s just so humbling.”

In addition to the funds raised for the STS Charity, another £1,000 has been donated to the Bob Willis Fund, a charity set up in the name of a Sunderland-born cricketer who died of the disease in 2019.

To find out more about the STS Charity, visit its page of the Trust’s website here.

For information about prostate cancer, including symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment and living with the disease, visit the NHS website here.

Details about the work and events run by the Fans Museum can be found through its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FansMuseum

Source: https://www.stsft.nhs.uk/news/latest-news/football-fans-walk-raise-funds-and-awareness-prostate-cancer-leads-1000-gift-nhs-charity

Five of the ten most visited health conditions on the NHS website last year mostly affect children, with three of them seeing significant increases compared to 2023.

Visits to the hand, foot and mouth disease page increased by 46% on the previous year – moving it from 14^th place to the third most viewed page in 2024 (2.8m visits compared with 1.9m in 2023). Symptoms include mouth ulcers and a raised rash of spots on the hands and feet.

Slapped cheek syndrome saw the biggest increase of the top 10 conditions with visits more than tripling. The condition, which can see a rash develop on children’s cheeks, was the fourth most visited page of 2024 – rising by 220% from 830,000 visits in 2023 to 2.6m last year.

Scarlet fever was another newcomer to the top 10 list in 2024, taking tenth place with 1.9m page visits – up 33% from 1.4m in 2023. The infection mostly affects young children and symptoms include a rash which looks like small, raised bumps and starts on the chest and tummy.

There were also 2m visits to advice on rashes in babies and children in 2024 and another 2m to the page on chickenpox.

The advice on Covid-19 and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms remained the first and second most visited health conditions overall, with 3.7m views for COVID-19 and 3.6m for ADHD.

The pages on high cholesterol, chest infections and urinary tract infections also appeared in the top 10 list for 2024.

The NHS is reminding people to use the NHS website for advice on treating winter health conditions, including when to visit a GP or other NHS services, after figures published on Thursday showed that there were an average of 5,408 patients a day in hospital with flu last week, including 256 in critical care – 3.5 times higher than the same week last year (1,548 w/e 7 January 2024).

A number of trusts this week have declared critical incidents, citing exceptional demand caused by the colder weather and respiratory viruses. Covid, RSV and norovirus cases remained high with more than 1,100 patients in hospital with Covid every day last week, as well as 626 patients with norovirus – up almost 50% on the same week last year (424). There was also an average of 72 children in hospital with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) every day, up 47% from last year (49).

Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “The nhs.uk website is available whenever you need it and these latest statistics show how useful it is for millions of people every year, especially for parents needing to check advice on their children’s health.

“We saw a significant increase in visits to the pages on several childhood illnesses in 2024 – including hand, foot and mouth disease and slapped cheek syndrome – and the website includes helpful guidance on how to treat children at home as well as when to visit a GP or access other services.

“I hope millions of people will continue to use the NHS website throughout 2025 to help them stay as healthy as possible.”

The 10 most viewed health conditions on the NHS website in 2024 were:

1. COVID-19 (3.7m)
2. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (3.6m)
3. Hand, foot and mouth disease (2.8m)
4. Slapped cheek syndrome (2.7m)
5. High cholesterol (2.2m)
6. Urinary tract infection (2.2m)
7. Chest infection (2m)
8. Rashes in babies and children (2m)
9. Chickenpox (2mi)
10. Scarlet fever (1.9m)

The NHS website, which is managed by NHS England, is the UK’s biggest health website with 701m visits throughout 2024 from people seeking information and advice.

It includes over 4,000 pages and provides information about 990 medical conditions. Other health services available on the website include applying for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card for healthcare cover abroad and finding a GP.

Cohens Chemist at The Medical Centre in Gibson Court, Boldon Colliery, will from this week open at 9am, not 8.30am as previously.

The full new opening hours are:

Monday – 9am to 6pm
Tuesday – 9am to 6pm
Wednesday – 9am to 6pm
Thursday – 9am to 6pm
Friday – 9am to 6pm
Saturday – CLOSED
Sunday – CLOSED

It is still open five hours in addition to its contracted hours, from 1pm to 2pm each weekday.