Principles for providing safe and good quality care in temporary escalation spaces (16 September 2024)

Summary

NHS England has published guidance setting out “principles for providing safe and good quality care” in corridors and other “unplanned” spaces. This has been published along with NHSE’s annual letter setting priorities for the coming winter.

Content

NHS England believes the delivery of care in temporary escalation spaces (TES) in departments experiencing patient crowding (including beds and chairs) is not acceptable and should not be considered as standard.

TES do not include spaces that are opened as part of winter pressure planning and refer to care given in any unplanned settings (such as corridors).

However, the current healthcare landscape means that some providers are using temporary escalation spaces more regularly – and this use is no longer ‘in extremis’.

The use of TES is never acceptable when caring for children.

These principles have been developed to support point-of-care staff to provide the safest, most effective and highest quality care possible when TES care has been deemed necessary.

The principles should be applied alongside any local standard operating procedures and arrangements governing flow pathways and safe staffing.

Core principles

• assessment of risk
• escalation
• wuality of care
• raising concerns and reporting incidents
• data collection and measuring harm
• de-escalation.

Related reading on the hub:

• Ending corridor care How and why to call it out
• A silent safety scandal: A nurse’s first-hand account of a corridor nursing shift