Hospitals in England have officially begun recruiting medical staff to work with patients forced to stay in corridors. Sussex University Hospitals have opened vacancies for doctors who will specialize in providing care to elderly people in the makeshift conditions of corridors of overcrowded departments, gazeta.ru reports with reference to the Daily Mail.
More than 1200 patients at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton spent at least 12 hours waiting for a bed last month alone, according to new figures. The hospital's management is alarmed that "corridor medicine" has gone from a temporary solution to a permanent practice, posing serious health risks to patients, particularly the elderly.
A similar trend is being seen in other parts of the country. Whittington Hospital in North London has already introduced special 12-hour shifts for nurses working exclusively with "corridor patients".
The medical community is sounding the alarm. “Corridor care is a dangerous and shameful reality that we face not just in winter,” said Dr Adrian Boyle, chief executive of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
