The Whittington Hospital

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NHS workers have told how the Whittington’s A&E department resembles a “packed airport departure lounge during an airline strike” as the hospital advertises for a “corridor care” nurse.

The Highgate hospital posted adverts online for registered nurses, with the notes specifying they were looking for a “corridor RN”. One hospital insider told the Tribune that the pressure was at boiling point, adding: “At times you feel like you’re in one of the Heathrow terminals.

“People aren’t happy, but they’re resigned to it. They’re making the best of a bad deck of cards.”

Some patients arriving in ambulances are waiting on beds in the corridors before they can be admitted.

Staff at the Whittington said the pressure was partly caused by the North Middlesex hospital declaring a “divert”.

This happens when a hospital is full, meaning all patients are taken to a different A&E. They added that the soaring number of patients was the result of minimal GP access, inadequate care homes, and few places for those with mental health issues to go.

Shirley Franklin, a long-term NHS campaigner who led the fight to save the Whittington’s A&E department in 2010, said she was quite surprised when the corridor nurse ad was sent to her to post on the Defend Whittington Hospital Coalition Facebook page.

“They are asking for corridor staff because there is a crisis,” she said “We’d rather people be treated in corridors than not be treated at all – but the long-term answer isn’t corridor treatment. It’s to build proper hospitals, train proper staff, in a fully public NHS, not a private one.”

She added: “It’s a wider question. I just think ‘we saved that A&E’, what if we hadn’t saved it? They cut back staff in 2011. They say there’s not enough staff. They’re right, there isn’t enough staff.

“Now, we need proper investment from government.”

The NHS campaigner added: “Our NHS was well funded when the Tories came to power, and they’ve starved it in real terms. This is the consequence of that. They’ve closed hospitals and A&Es everywhere. The Whittington is a victim of that.”

Ms Franklin warned that any plans to use the private sector to relieve pressure would be counter-productive.

“We do not need private companies profiteering from this crisis,” she said. “The money needs to stay in the health service not come out of it.”

But a hospital insider said they feared chaos in hospital A&Es would fuel calls for a radical transformation of the health service.

“The feeling among a significant section of colleagues is that this state of affairs will lead to a USA-style health service. After all, how can the powers that be now know how bad things are and not take action,” they said.

Meanwhile, Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn thanked the “hard-working, dedicated” staff at the Whittington. “They do fantastic work in our community and will continue to have my support”, he said.

Mr Corbyn added: “The government is continuing Tory underfunding of our NHS, and this is the consequence: desperate patients being treated in hospital corridors. The solution to the healthcare crisis is not more privatisation. It is the precise opposite, which is why I remain committed to the pledge I made during the election: to defend a fully-public and fully-funded NHS.”

A spokesperson for the Whittington said: “Our hospital has been experi­encing very significant pressure in urgent and emergency care.

“We have worked with partners across the health and care system to request mutual aid at times of worst pressures, to alleviate the impact and ensure patients get care as quickly and safely as possible this winter.

“In these circumstances we may have to provide care in corridors, as an absolute last resort. In common with other hospitals, where this is necessary we bring in additional staff on a temporary basis to ensure that care can be delivered as safely and compassionately as possible to patients.

“We apologise to any patient whose care has not met our usual high standards due to the exceptional level of demand, and are grateful to all of our hardworking staff for their commitment during this period of extraordinary pressure.”