The hand of a patient grips the rail of a hospital bed in the X-ray department at The Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital in East Lancashire
PATIENTS are dying in corridors and going undiscovered for hours, a damning new report by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reveals today.
Some sick people are being left to soil themselves, according to the body’s survey of nurses in Britain’s hospitals.
The report found that 67 per cent of nurses are delivering care every day in overcrowded or unsuitable places, while nearly 20 per cent said it was happening weekly.
With more people dying each year and many spending their final days in institutions, researchers argue that wider access to palliative care could offer a more humane and cost-effective alternative, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Government urged ‘to tackle the root causes’ of the NHS crisis and improve ‘social care services’