Scale of Corridor Care in NHS Hospitals
Nearly 3,000 patients each day were cared for in hospital corridors or temporary treatment areas rather than in proper beds on wards in England during May, according to newly published data. This marks the first time such figures have been released, highlighting the significant challenge the NHS faces in addressing what government ministers have described as "unsafe" and "unacceptable" conditions.
Corridor care is defined as patients waiting more than 45 minutes for an appropriate place to receive care. Ministers have committed to eliminating this practice by 2029.
In Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments, corridor care occurs when patients are placed in corridors, side-rooms, or makeshift treatment spaces lacking the necessary equipment to ensure safety and dignity. On hospital wards, corridor care refers to patients waiting 45 minutes or longer for a bed.
The data for May indicates that on average, 2,241 patients per day experienced corridor care in A&E, while 669 patients per day faced similar conditions on wards.
Official Response and Data Transparency
Health Secretary James Murray stated:
"Corridor care is unacceptable, undignified and has no place in our NHS.
That is why, for the first time, we are publishing this data to shine a spotlight on where the problems are greatest and ensure trusts get the support they need, with the vast majority of corridor care concentrated in a small number of organisations."
Patient and Staff Experiences
Both patients and healthcare staff have shared their experiences with corridor care through BBC Your Voice, illustrating the human impact of these conditions.
Suzanne has brought her mother, who is in her 80s, to A&E in the East Midlands five times this year. Each visit involved waiting over 24 hours in a corridor.
"Mum was one trolley in a sea of trolleys," Suzanne recalls.
Her mother, confused and distressed, was only assisted with basic needs such as using the toilet or getting a drink because family members were present.
"If we hadn't been, I dread to think what might have happened."
Kathy’s experience was similarly distressing. Earlier this year, after being referred by her GP with a suspected eye infection, she waited 36 hours sitting alone in a chair at a hospital in the East of England before being informed that her blurred vision was caused by a brain tumour.
"It was horrendous… I got home and threw up. I was exhausted and broken."
Healthcare Staff Describe Challenging Conditions
Nurses who wished to remain anonymous described burnout and extremely difficult working conditions.
One nurse recounted a shift where the corridor was lined with patients. During that time, a body was wheeled past on its way to the mortuary, and later, a patient suffered a cardiac arrest in the same corridor.
"Those frail patients watched chest compressions. There's no dignity in that."
Another nurse described her emergency department as feeling "like a war zone," sharing an incident where a patient died unnoticed in the corridor.
"He'd started to stiffen because he had been there for so long, dead, with no-one noticing. It's horrific to think someone's loved one died with no one near them."
