Hospital posts updated advert for corridor role

A hospital in East Sussex is hiring a doctor to design and implement a "toolkit" to better treat elderly and frail people in its corridors.

The Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, said the doctor would treat patients held in corridors due to a lack of beds, and across its emergency department.

Prof Katie Urch, chief medical officer at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We all understand that corridor care is not acceptable and that we must continue our progress towards eliminating it."

The hospital removed the advertisement from its website on Thursday and reinstated an updated version on Friday, but would not confirm why.

The trust removed reference to corridor care in the updated advertisement, but kept it in the role's job description.

It previously explained that as well as caring for patients, the doctor would also work to find new ways to help vulnerable people from needing to come to hospital at all.

"The delays that patients are experiencing in our hospitals, including corridor care, are linked to challenges across our entire health and care system," said Prof Urch.

"The challenges cannot be solved by us alone, and need collective solutions.

"To support this, the role is focused on the care of frail elderly patients to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and to ensure the most appropriate inpatient assessment and care."

Prof Urch said the role built on the "significant steps" the trust had already taken to ensure patients were not left on beds in corridors.

"Although the winter has been extremely difficult, there are clear signs of improvement compared to last year," she added.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it was "shocking" that corridor care exists in the NHS.

"Despite the best efforts of staff, patients are receiving unacceptable standards of treatment," they said.

The spokesperson said the government was increasing funding to cut wait times and delayed hospital discharges to free up beds.

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