Hospital corridor care ‘normalised' in Scotland's largest health board

Telegraph

27-03-2025

John Swinney has been urged to finally honour his promises to tackle the NHS crisis after a report found that patients were routinely being treated in the corridors of hospitals in Scotland's largest health board.
A Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) report criticised the 'unacceptable normalisation' of corridor care at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
It also attacked the widespread use of 'ambulance stacking' – patients waiting in queues of ambulances – as a method of dealing with overcrowding in the flagship Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).
The report also highlighted a 'serious breakdown' in relationships among staff and management at the board, Scotland's largest, warning this was likely to harm patient care.
It said there was a 'strong perception' among medics that targets and budgets were given greater priority than 'the quality and safety of care'. The working environment at the hospital was said to be 'brutal' and 'inhumane'.
The report was prompted by a joint letter from 29 doctors at the hospital to HIS warning that patient safety was being 'seriously compromised'.
The board serves a population of 1.2 million people and HIS examined the emergency departments of three hospitals – QEUH, which is Scotland's largest hospital, the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
'It is a huge concern'
Dr Iain Kennedy, chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said: 'This damning report exposes the reality of poor culture and poor care at Scotland's largest health board and is no doubt reflective of failings that are felt across many parts of Scotland's NHS.
'The impact of this on staff and patients is clear, with the normalisation of care provided in corridors and ambulance stacking causing a huge concern.
'Such measures are undeniably harming patients, whom doctors and healthcare teams are doing their utmost to care for in incredibly trying circumstances, leading to moral distress and injury for staff.'
He highlighted the report's disclosure of 'a lack of compassionate, respectful and positive leadership at all levels of the organisation' and said it 'fully and completely justifies' the consultants writing to the watchdog.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, used First Minister's Questions to highlight the 'devastating' conclusions and pointed out he had been raising concerns about the hospital 'for years'.
He said: 'This is just the latest report after 29 doctors raised concerns almost two years ago. It follows the same pattern – patient safety compromised, staff ignored, bullied and silenced.
'And when they blow the whistle, management deny their claims, intimidate them and attempt a cover-up.'
He added: 'This SNP government is more interested in protecting managers and institutions rather than protecting patients and staff. What will it take for that to change?'
Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said: 'Previous SNP promises to improve patient care have not been met. That must change. John Swinney needs to stick to his word and keep the commitments he has made to patients.'
'Utterly unacceptable'
Mr Swinney told MSPs: 'Let me use this platform to make it abundantly clear to every health board in the country that the culture that is referred to by HIS is completely and utterly unacceptable.'
The First Minister said Scotland had a 'formidable record' on improving patient safety but warned this would be 'undermined if there is not a culture of acceptance of the need to tackle the behaviour that the HIS report highlights'.
He added: 'There's been an entire change of leadership in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with a new chair, new chief executive, new medical director in place in the board, taking forward, as the chief executive of the health board has made clear publicly, at pace and at scale the reforms necessary.'
Robbie Pearson, chief executive of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: 'This report is one of the most far-reaching and comprehensive reviews we've undertaken, in terms of the breadth of evidence we've analysed, and the number of patients and staff that we engaged with.'
An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: 'While we aim to provide high-quality care for our patients, delays in the flow through and out of hospitals often result in patients waiting too long in emergency departments. Under these pressures, the working environment can also be difficult for our staff.'
He added: 'We take the report, and most importantly the views of our patients and staff, very seriously and want to assure our patients and staff of our commitment to improve.'
The spokesman said the board's chiefs have 'pledged to listen to staff and to work collaboratively and respectfully to tackle the challenges we face and to build trust between staff of all levels'.