Deaths and miscarriages in hospital hallways: The shocking scale of the NHS corridor crisis told by nurses on front line
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These are just a few of the distressing scenes more than 5,000 nurses have shared from inside hospitals across the UK. Patients dying unnoticed or suffering miscarriages in corridors. Elderly people with dementia soiling themselves because there’s no one to help them to the toilet. People forced to have treatment in bathrooms and car parks.
![[Many nurses reported struggling to help patients who were put in corridors]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/12/iStock-1495140134.jpg)
These are just a few of the distressing scenes nurses across the UK have witnessed with the health system under immense pressure, forcing hospitals to treat patients in any available space. More than 5,000 nurses shared their stories with the Royal College of Nursing, with many saying they felt embarrassed or ashamed to work for the NHS because of the lack of care they were able to provide.
![[Nurses have been forced to have tough conversations with patients where others can overhear]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/00/a74f6b595638967552c56b85e97b164bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2ODY0NjIz-2.78601732.jpg)
As a senior nurse from the south-east put it: “Nurses don’t go into this profession to give bad care, and we give our utmost in horrendous situations, because there’s nothing else we can do.”. Here are some of their stories. Too many patients spread across ward bays, corridors and store rooms has meant patients often receive delayed care, or worse.
![[Many patients have been left with little dignity, forced to wet themselves with no help getting to the toilet]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/00/8e6d6a8fa6f8bb5ec2fd08621fc43f4dY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2ODc4NDc0-2.78677366.jpg)
One nurse said: “We have had multiple patients unexpectedly deteriorate and arrest in the corridor. A patient died in the corridor but wasn’t discovered for hours.”. Many nurses reported patients going into cardiac arrest while in corridors. “This morning staff left in tears as we had a cardiac arrest in a corridor where we couldn’t move the bed to the resus area as there were other patients on beds blocking access. Sadly this lady died,” a nurse said.
