Pressure must be alleviated on A&E departments by making prevention and early intervention a top priority, an MS stressed recently.
Natasha Asghar, Member of the Welsh Parliament for South Wales East, called on the Labour Welsh Government to urgently get to grips with dehumanising and undignified incidents of corridor care.
Corridor care, which sees patients treated in inappropriate areas like waiting rooms, chairs, and corridors, is a wide-spread issue, with the Royal College of Nursing and British Medical Association launching a petition to end the practice.
The Welsh Conservative politician told the Senedd:
“There are a number of factors contributing to corridor care, but the one I want to focus on is easing pressure on A&E with prevention and early intervention.
“I have had many constituents contact me since I have been doing this job about how they have been forced to visit A&E or MIU because they simply haven’t been able to get a GP appointment.
“One constituent’s young daughter unnecessarily ended up in A&E partly due to her GP practice in Newport not being able to conduct blood tests for under 10-year-olds.
“She was then referred to Ystrad Fawr for full bloods, but they didn’t have an appointment for another 4 weeks, so her parents took the decision to go to A&E.
“This won’t be the only case, and all of this is undoubtedly putting unnecessary strain on our hospitals.”
Natasha asked the Health Minister Jeremy Miles MS:
“So what steps is the Welsh Government taking to alleviate pressure on A&E departments by prioritising prevention and early intervention?”
In response, Jeremy Miles MS said:
“I mentioned the expansion of same-day emergency care provision in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area, which I know will be particularly relevant to the Member, and which saw 1,400 patients last month, and 80 per cent of those were able to be treated and discharged on the same day.
“So, we want to be able to see more of that. The fracture liaison service is another example of how people can be treated in a very bespoke way so that they don't have to wait those sometimes long waits in emergency departments.”
Commenting after the exchange, Natasha Asghar MS said:
“Corridor care is dangerous, undignified, and dehumanising, and it should not be happening in our hospitals – it is as simple as that.
“I fully support calls from the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association for the Welsh Government to eliminate corridor care, and I would encourage residents to sign the ongoing petition.
“By making prevention and early intervention a priority, we can reduce the pressure on A&E departments, which in turn will hopefully lead to a drop in incidents of corridor care.”
The petition to end corridor care can be found here: https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246599
