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Staff shortages are a key reason that patients are being treated in hospital corridors and waiting rooms, the Royal College of Nursing has warned.

The college has released survey findings which it said showed patient care is being compromised due to treatment taking place in inappropriate environments.

"It’s a very simple choice – invest properly in nursing"

The poll of 20,000 nursing and midwifery staff found 27% of those working in hospitals reported clinical care taking place in areas such as corridors or waiting rooms.

The situation is worst in emergency departments, where almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents reported the problem.

The RCN said lack of staff was a key factor contributing to the issue. It warned that staff shortages were causing delays in patients being discharged, meaning hospitals are left full.

Meanwhile, nurses reported that additional beds were being added to their wards, creating "extra stress on staff" and reducing patient privacy.

A registered nurse on an acute ward in England said: "I feel I’m pulled from pillar to post, trying to juggle everything.

"Some shifts are relentless with no time for breaks. We are not able to care for patients as we would like yet the expectation is still there."

The nursing union said the pressure on nursing staff remained “unsustainable” and insisted that investment in the nursing workforce was needed now to stop this problem.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen described the situation as “scandalous” and said treating patients in inappropriate settings must not become the “new normal”.

She added: “We’re in the situation largely because of the failure of governments across the UK to address the nursing workforce crisis, which has seen more than 25,000 nurses leave the profession in the last year alone.

“It’s a very simple choice – invest properly in nursing – plan staffing based on the population’s needs, hold yourselves accountable and put the funding in place or even more patients will be waiting on hospital trollies and the queue of ambulances outside A&Es will grow even longer.”

Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the results of the RCN survey would resonate with members of her college.

"Paramedics, doctors, nurses and all staff working in the urgent and emergency care pathway are incredibly distressed at the current state of care,” she added.

“There is deep discomfort, concern, and fear about how things develop from here, particularly as we head towards winter.”

She urged leaders to “face up to the reality on the ground”.

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