A Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) survey found half of emergency departments (EDs) were treating patients in corridors despite guidance that this should never happen. In the week to October 11, three-quarters could not maintain social distancing on at least one day a week and a quarter said it was impossible every day.
Eight in 10 of 89 lead clinicians surveyed, representing 110 emergency departments, said they could not offload ambulances on at least one day a week.
The RCEM’s president, Dr Katherine Henderson, warned: “If Covid cases continue to rise EDs are at risk of becoming a hub of transmission.”
