Nurses ‘fear being taken to court’ over degrading treatment of patients in corridors

Staff speak of the psychological toll of working in stretched wards

‘A corridor is no place to die and no place to work either,’ says union chief Pat Cullen (AFP/Getty)

Nurses fear they could be taken to court or struck off over the level of care they are able to give to patients, a union has warned, as the NHS stands on the brink of six more months of strikes.

The Royal College of Nursing, one of the two unions to turn down the recent government pay offer to NHS staff, revealed that over nine in 10 A&E nurses had raised concerns that patients may be receiving unsafe care and that patient dignity, privacy and confidentiality is compromised.

Six in 10 fear they will be struck off the nursing register or have a court case brought against them as a result of patient harm due to their working conditions, the RCN said.