There is ‘barely a spare bed’ left in NHS hospitals due to a lack of capacity in social care, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned.
Patricia Marquis, executive director for RCN England, said nursing staff and patients were ‘desperately worried’ about the winter ahead.
‘Before the cold weather hits, nursing staff and patients are desperately worried about what the coming weeks and months may bring.
‘New commitments to hit targets must include introducing mandatory reporting of all instances of corridor care taking place in the health service,’ she warned.
The comments came as the latest NHS winter data was published ahead of prime minister Keir Starmer’s ‘Plan for Change’ speech earlier today.
In the speech Mr Starmer listed six key milestones, including plans to end hospital backlogs and to meet the NHS standard of 92% of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment.
The latest urgent and emergency care data revealed that problems discharging patients who no longer require hospital care is having a major impact on capacity.
An average of 11,969 beds each day last week were occupied by patients who were ready for discharge, taking up one in eight of all occupied adult general and acute beds (96,587).
The data also showed threats of a ‘quad-demic’, with a 350% increase in flu cases and an 86% rise in norovirus cases in hospital compared to the same week last year, alongside concerns about rising Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSC) levels in hospitals.
Earlier this week the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued an alert to healthcare professionals following a ‘lower than expected’ flu jab and Covid booster uptake.
The UKSA warned that only 24% of NHS workers had received their flu vaccine and 14% have received their Covid vaccine.
Last month, a survey from NHS Providers found that insufficient primary and social care capacity were amongst the ‘greatest risks’ to the provision of high-quality patient care this winter.
