There are new wards in our hospitals
They are not extensions
They are not repurposed rooms
They are the corridors in A and E
The place where journeys take place
For a hundred reasons
Alongside patients waiting for a place
Away from the constant noise
Glare of lights
And other patients on the move.
And I just want to say:
Thank God for the nurses in the corridors
Of our hurting hospitals
Delivering critical care in small spaces
Where people wait;
Wait for tests
Wait for experts
Wait for a ward and an empty bed.
Thank God for the nurses in the corridors
Working with a constant stream of
Poorly people journeying to X-rays and scans
With hardly room to move
Two way bed traffic
Along a congested corridor
Of the sick queuing for ward space.
Thank God for the nurses in the corridors
For makeshift work stations
For their kindness and care in unsuitable places
For meeting relatives’ disbelief
For working in the frontline
Where families endlessly seek a calm space
For their loved ones.
Thank God for the nurses in the corridors
Who never signed up for this
Who do their best despite our grumbling
Our torment,
Our demands,
Our impatience
At the crumbling healthcare system.
Thank God for the nurses in the corridors
Without whom our loved ones
Would suffer terribly in their desperate need
Cease to receive comfort
Cease to recover
Cease to exist.
THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY MUM IN THE HOSPITAL CORRIDOR
Jeanette Howe
24/4/24