Broadcast Prism — Story: ITV survey finds almost one in five A&E patients in corridor care

How it was covered

ITV was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on the survey, Pam Smith's case and official promises on corridor care.
Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.

The Full Story

A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.

ITV News reported that an 81-year-old woman with terminal cancer was left in a hospital storeroom for 48 hours after chemotherapy. The case emerged alongside a snapshot survey that found almost one in five A&E patients across the UK were treated in corridors or other clinically inappropriate spaces.

The survey was commissioned by ITV News and carried out with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. More than 100 senior A&E doctors and nurses counted patients in their hospitals on Tuesday 3 November. ITV News said the snapshot covered more than 10,000 patients.

ITV News reported that almost 20% of A&E patients, nearly one in five, were in clinically inappropriate spaces such as corridors, converted offices or the back of ambulances. Almost 28% of mental health patients and more than 3% of child patients were also affected. The vast majority of staff who took part said they believed patients were coming to harm.

Pam Smith, 81, told ITV News she felt abandoned. She said she slept on three plastic chairs in the storeroom. The Royal Gwent Hospital said it was truly sorry for the distress and had taken immediate steps to improve. Smith is receiving palliative care and does not want to go into hospital again. Her family has been told this Christmas could be her last.

An A&E doctor in south-east England, recorded in a video diary for ITV News, said there were not enough beds, staff or social care. The doctor described corridor care as a systemic problem. Another clinician told ITV News that staff had climbed over patients to resuscitate others and that bad news had been broken in corridors.

ITV News said NHS data suggested more than 3,000 cases of corridor care a day in England, though frontline staff felt the official figures were an underestimate. The four UK governments told ITV News that corridor care was unacceptable and said they were taking action.

The UK government announced more health checks with GPs in England this winter for people with heart disease and frailty. The Prime Minister said this was one of the measures to tackle corridor care. In its later coverage, ITV News said the government had promised to accelerate plans to end the practice after earlier exposure, but its snapshot showed few signs of improvement.

Key Claims

Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.

Claim
Only on one channel
A survey of senior A&E staff across the UK reported that nearly a fifth of A&E patients were treated in unsuitable spaces such as corridors, converted offices or ambulance backs.
The Royal Gwent Hospital apologised and said it had taken immediate steps to improve.
The survey reported that almost 28% of mental health patients were receiving corridor care.

Channel Perspectives

What each channel focused on, with key quotes.

ITV

ITV1 led its lunchtime bulletin with the survey's headline finding and the case of Pam Smith, then expanded the story into a special report in the evening and a test of the government's claim at Ten. Its coverage was campaigning in tone, built around patient testimony, frontline video and repeated challenges to official assurances. The later bulletins stressed that the snapshot was not peer-reviewed but argued it was a valuable real-time picture.

Key Quotes:

“Abandoned, really, I suppose is the word, yeah.”
“I'm sat in the cupboard trying to sleep on chairs. There was just nobody there for me at that point in time.”
“We don't have enough beds, we don't have enough staff and we don't have social care fixed.”

Who was on air

People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.