The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has described new testimony from nurses about the state of corridor care across the UK as ‘distressing, damning and exactly what we see every single day in our departments’.

More than 430 nurses described the conditions they are working in and what patients are enduring in a survey conducted by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Just some examples shared include how a nurse witnessed a patient left in a chair for four days, a patient dying after choking undetected in a corridor and nurses holding up sheets to try and protect the dignity of a patient while they underwent an intimate procedure.

One nurse went as far as saying the conditions are “a type of torture”.

Their accounts were gathered between 2 January and 9 January, revealing nursing staff are treating patients in cold corridors, dining rooms, staff kitchens and offices.

Dr Ian Higginson, President of RCEM said: “This work by the Royal College of Nursing makes for incredibly tough reading.

“It’s distressing, damning and exactly what we see every single day in our departments.

“These deeply personal testimonies aren’t just stories - it’s the daily reality for patients and their nurses, who work alongside our members and their colleagues in Emergency Departments.

“Last year, when RCN released their first report on corridor care, we said that it must represent a watershed moment for the government, a line in the sand.

“Yet, 365 days on, the nurses voices show our patients are still in corridors, and there is no credible plan to get them out.

“So called ‘corridor care’ takes an immense toll on patients, who will be facing long waits in these conditions.

“And it takes an immense toll on our clinicians who are trying their upmost best to deliver quality care in these conditions.”