Siobhain McDonagh MP: speeches

Speeches

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

  More

  A number of constituents who work as nurses in the A&E department at St Helier hospital asked me to come to see for myself what they were dealing with. They asked me to come late on a Monday morning, rather than a Saturday or Sunday night as I had anticipated. What I saw was deeply troubling. Around 250 patients were coming through the department every day. Elderly people were being cared for on trolleys out of nurse sight lines. However, what really struck me was that packs of staff were wandering around A&E, with nowhere to do their job. They could not do their paperwork, sit near their patients or monitor anything. Corridor care does not begin in the corridor; it begins long before a patient reaches A&E. For years, community services and alternatives have gradually disappeared. The walk-in centre at the Wilson hospital in Mitcham, which once treated patients every day until midnight, even on Christmas day, has gone. Out-of-hours GP services have been reduced. Those patients have not disappeared; they now go to St Helier. If we want fewer people waiting in our overcrowded emergency departments, we must invest in the services that prevent them from needing to be there in the first place. That is particularly important in communities such as mine, where people are more likely to live with long-term health conditions and greater health inequalities. An A&E department cannot function in isolation. It depends on having the services, capacity and infrastructure around it to keep patients flowing safely through the hospital. That is why I have spent years campaigning for St Helier. I am therefore delighted that NHS London announced up to £57 million to expand and modernise St Helier’s emergency department. However, that cannot be the end. St Helier needs renewal. Only days later, there was an announcement that disrepair in the women’s services block meant that it would have to close. I am delighted that the chief executive of the hospital trust has said that those services will return. Nevertheless, the situation is a stark reminder of what happens when hospitals are expected to serve growing populations in ageing buildings that have been allowed to deteriorate for decades. Corridor care should never become normal in our NHS. My constituents deserve a St Helier hospital that is properly equipped to care for them when they need it most. I am determined to continue to fight for that.