“During the inquest I heard evidence from clinicians at University Hospitals Sussex NHS…”
Dated 5 Aug 2025, from the coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove. Sent to 3 organisations or people.
A coroner wrote this report after an inquest, to warn the organisations below about a risk of further deaths.
The 56-day response deadline
Deadline passedReplies were due by 30 Sep 2025. A reply may have been sent and not yet published.
Organisations that receive a report must reply to the coroner within 56 days, saying what they will do or why they will do nothing. We show whether a response is published on judiciary.uk.
- Report dated5 Aug 2025
- Deadline30 Sep 2025
- Published on judiciary.uk5 Aug 2025
- Today27 Oct 2026
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Responses from each recipient
| Sent to | Response |
|---|---|
| University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust | Response published, not yet matchedA response is published with this report. We haven’t yet matched it to the organisation it’s from, so it may be this one’s. |
| NHS England | Response publishedPublished on judiciary.uk in August 2025. |
| Department of Health and Social Care | Response publishedPublished on judiciary.uk in August 2025. |
The coroner’s concerns
During the inquest I heard evidence from clinicians at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust that when the Emergency Department of the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton reached capacity patients would be moved to and treated in the corridor as there was no clinical area available to do so. The area is not designated as a clinical area. I understand that at the time of Mrs Batchelor's attendance on 25 February there were 25 patients in the Emergency Department corridor, and this increased to 32 patients. Clinicians from University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust gave evidence as to the action that is being taken by the Trust currently to (1) reduce the number of patients who present to the Emergency Department who could be seen by other services in the community and (2) to create an improved patient flow through the Royal Sussex County Hospital. The evidence was however that, despite these actions, the corridor remains in use for patients currently as there is insufficient space within the department to care for patients. When asked there was no evidence as to when this practice would no longer be necessary. I was also advised that the use of corridors to care for patients is not only an issue at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton but is used throughout the country when the capacities of Emergency Departments has been reached and there is nowhere to treat patients and the only other alternative would be to hold patients in ambulances outside of the hospital. A Prevention of Future Deaths report in relation to the use of the corridor for patient care was made during an investigation into a death which occurred in December 2022 and the use of the corridor remains ongoing.
An extract. Read the full report, including the circumstances of the death, on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website.
- Source
- judiciary.uk, Prevention of Future Deaths reports, 2025-0406
- Added to Minute Book
- 8 Oct 2026
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- We show short extracts and link to the original. We don’t host the full report.
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, judiciary.uk. Open Government Licence v3.0
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