英病院のケア基準「崩壊」、患者は廊下で死亡　看護師労組報告

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英国では病院が過剰に混雑し、ケア基準が崩壊する中、患者は治療を待つ間に廊下で死亡しているとする報告書が１６日、発表された。（写真は、英国のキア・スターマー首相）
　英看護師労組「王立看護協会（ＲＣＮ）」が昨年１２月に実施した国民保健サービス（ＮＨＳ）に関するアンケート調査で、ＮＨＳの看護師１０人中９人が「患者の安全が危険にさらされている」と回答した。
　約７割（６６．８％）の看護師が廊下や改築された物置、駐車場、さらには遺族控室などの「過密または不適切な場所」で「日常的に」ケアを行っていると答えた。
　「全国５０００人以上の看護スタッフの経験は、ケア基準の壊滅的な崩壊を浮き彫りにし、患者が日常的に危険にさらされていることを示している」とＲＣＮは報告した。
　報告書によると、救命機器がない狭いスペースで看護師が「廊下ケア」を行うことが「常態化」しているという。
　イングランド東部のある看護師は、勤務する病院では廊下ケアが「例外ではなく、規則だ」と述べた。
　先月、イングランドの救急部門では約５万４０００人の患者が病院のベッドが利用可能になるまで１２時間以上待たなければならず、その割合は２０２３年１２月から２３％増加した。
　キア・スターマー首相は、ＮＨＳの改善を含む公約を掲げて昨年７月に選出され、今年初めに病院の負担を軽減するために地域の健康センターを拡充する計画を発表した。
　ウェス・ストリーティング保険・社会福祉相は１５日に、廊下ケアは「安全ではなく」「尊厳を欠いている」としつつ、ＮＨＳの改善には時間がかかると述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/01/17-17:03）

UK patients are coming to harm with hospitals so overwhelmed people are dying in corridors awaiting treatment amid a collapse in care standards, a report said Thursday.
In the latest indictment of Britain's beleaguered state-funded National Health Service, nine in 10 NHS nurses surveyed by the country's nurses union said patient safety is being compromised.
Nearly seven in 10 (66.8 percent) said they were delivering care in overcrowded or unsuitable places on a daily basis, including in corridors, converted cupboards, car parks and even bereavement rooms.
The experiences of over 5,000 nursing staff across the UK highlight a devastating collapse in care standards, with patients routinely coming to harm, said the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
The report condemned the normalisation of so-called corridor care, with nurses unable to access life-saving equipment in cramped spaces.
One nurse in east England said corridor care in their hospital trust was not an exception, it's the rule.
Last month, some 54,000 patients in emergency departments in England had to wait over 12 hours until a hospital bed was available, up 23 percent from December 2023.
The report is a result of a Royal College of Nursing request at the end of December, asking members to fill out a short survey.
The report includes the raw, unedited and often heart-breaking comments of the thousands of nursing staff working across the UK who responded, the RCN said.
- 'Jam-packed' -
The report comes as NHS figures released separately Thursday revealed that last week was the busiest yet for the health service this winter, with hospitals jam-packed with patients.
Some 96 percent of all hospital beds were full, said Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, warning that despite a drop in flu numbers winter viruses are much higher than usual for this time of year.
The RCN report included testimonies from nurses treating up to 40 patients waiting in a corridor, as well as reports of pregnant women miscarrying in corridors.
Some said the overcrowding in corridors impeded them from giving life-saving resuscitation (CPR). One nurse recalled a patient dying after a cardiac arrest by the male toilet.
Another alleged having to treat cardiac arrests with no crash bell, crash trolley, oxygen, defibrillator... straddling a patient doing CPR while everyone watches on.
This devastating testimony from frontline nursing staff shows patients are coming to harm every day, said RCN General Secretary Nicola Ranger.
Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital lifesaving equipment. We can now categorically say patients are dying in this situation, Ranger added.
In June 2024, the RCN declared a national emergency over hospital overcrowding and care being delivered in unsuitable places.
Health Foundation charity's assistant director of policy Tim Gardner said record delays in emergency care were a rarity before the pandemic, but are now the worst we have seen since records began in 2011.
There are some 7.5 million people on the NHS waiting list, with more than three million having faced delays longer than 18 weeks for treatment.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was elected in July on a ticket which included fixing the NHS, rolled out a plan at the start of the year which included expanding community health centres to reduce pressure on hospitals.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Wednesday said corridor care was unsafe and undignified but it would take time to undo the damage to the NHS.