Hospital fire exits blocked to create bed space

Hospital beds are being placed in front of emergency fire doors

Fire exits in hospital wards are being intentionally blocked in order to create extra bed space.

The Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro said it was a temporary measure to cope with increased demand.

The chief executive insisted the move was legal, and only undertaken when an area had undergone a safety assessment.

But one patient, who was treated on two wards with fire exits blocked by beds, questioned the wisdom of the scheme.

'Chaos really'

Roger Hollingsworth, 77, from Perranwell Station, was admitted earlier this month after a suspected heart attack.

He said: "I went into the ward, and I was put into a bed at the end of the ward in front of an emergency exit.

"So, if you really did have a fire situation and had to get people out quickly, how are you going to get patients out of the doorway? It's chaos really there.

"And then I was transferred to the cardiac investigation. And lo and behold, was put into another emergency bed in front of another emergency exit."

• LISTEN: Roger Hollingsworth tells BBC Radio Cornwall his concerns

But RCHT chief executive Steve Williamson, said the move was legal and necessary because of pressure on wards.

He said each area must pass assessments for fire safety, health and safety and infection control.

He said: "We would absolutely close every one of those temporary escalation spaces immediately when we are able to do that.

"The operational reality is, if we look at the end of last week, Royal Cornwall Hospital had about 140 of its inpatient beds occupied by patients who have finished their acute hospital stay and are waiting to go elsewhere. That is a little bit more than 20% of our bed capacity.

"It is temporary until, with our partners across the health and care system, we can reduce that pressure on hospital beds for patients who have finished their hospital stay.

"The only reason those temporary beds are open is because so many of our acute hospital beds are occupied by [those] patients."

• LISTEN: RCHT chief executive Steve Williamson tells BBC Radio Cornwall the reason for the temporary changes