I’m an A&E nurse – and in my hospital right now, we can’t give patients the dignified care they need | Susie

Injured people are being seen in viewing rooms for dead bodies. I love my job, but I don’t know how much longer I can cope

Susie (not her real name) is a senior nurse in an A&E ward at a London hospital

A&E nurses thrive in a crisis. That’s why my colleagues and I came into the profession – to do the best for our patients in their moment of need, even in the most chaotic of circumstances. But the pressure is currently overwhelming. This winter, a bad but by no means unprecedented flu season has put immense strain on already struggling hospitals around the UK. Some patients are waiting days to be seen, with trusts using every inch of space to look after patients in corridors, physio rooms and even store cupboards, often without access to vital lifesaving equipment such as oxygen.

In the London hospital I work in, patients brought in on trolleys are often left for hours in an indoor ambulance bay with an automatic sliding door that opens on to the elements. While they wait for a bed, some are attended to in our viewing room for dead bodies. It’s the only private place left. Everyone knows that “care” is taking place in completely unsuitable parts of a hospital, yet there is no transparent data made available on how many patients are affected, how long their treatment lasts in these inappropriate places and the extent of the harm being done. Wes Streeting and NHS leaders should commit to publishing this data immediately.

Susie (not her real name) is a member of the Royal College of Nursing and a senior nurse in an A&E ward at a London hospital

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