Nurses ‘fear court action over treatment in corridors’
The Royal College of Nursing has revealed that nurses fear being taken to court over the level of care they give to patients.
The RCN, one of the two unions to turn down the recent Government pay offer to NHS staff, has revealed nurses are concerned about patient safety and even fear court cases being brought against them for treating patients in corridors.
More than 500 specialist A&E nurses in the RCN’s emergency care association shared their experiences of overcrowded hospitals before its annual congress in Brighton, which begins today.
It says more than nine in 10 raised concerns that patients may be receiving unsafe care and that patient dignity, privacy and confidentiality is compromised.
The RCN says six in 10 fear they will be struck off the nursing register or have a court case brought against them as a result of patient harm due to their working conditions.
Some nurses described themselves as ‘broken’ and feeling ‘suicidal’, with corridor treatment being deemed ‘degrading for patients’.
Before the congress, one emergency care nurse said: ‘Caring for patients in corridors is destroying staff morale.
‘When you walk into the department and see 15-20 people in the queue, day in day out – you lose any hope it’s going to be a good shift. We care for patients the best we can, but something happens every day.
‘I’ve dealt with almost every situation I can imagine in the queue.’
Nurses and doctors find themselves unable to discharge patients due to the lack of community care in place, the RCN says.