Nearly 3,000 patients every day were cared for in hospital corridors or makeshift treatment areas in England last month, according to official data published by NHS England for the first time.
What is corridor care?
A patient is classed as receiving corridor care if their treatment does not take place in a clinically appropriate and safe setting. The criteria include privacy, access to food, water and toilets, and whether lights can be turned off and noise levels minimised to allow sleep.
Figures for May
Overall, there were an average of 2,241 instances each day in May of a patient receiving corridor care for more than 45 minutes at hospital A&E departments. This includes patients receiving treatment, or waiting for assessment, admission or transfer, but not delays involving ambulances handing over patients to A&E staff.
There were a further 699 instances on average each day last month of patients receiving corridor care for more than 45 minutes inside hospital wards. This figure covers patients who are being treated within a ward but not in a designated bed space, based on a snapshot at 8am each morning.
Waiting list rises
The data comes as the NHS waiting list for planned hospital treatment rose for the first time in six months. An estimated 7.22 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of April, relating to 6.11 million patients. This is up from 7.11 million treatments and 6.02 million patients at the end of March.
Expert reaction
Siva Anandaciva, director of policy at the King’s Fund, said: “These figures confirm the scale of something that should never have been normalised in the NHS. Patients are routinely being treated in hospital corridors, without privacy or dignity. Pressure across the whole health and care system is spilling into A&E.”
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The publication of today’s figures is testament to the dedicated campaigning of nursing staff, but the figures themselves are alarming. They show that this unsafe and undignified practice is rife throughout our hospitals and not just limited to emergency departments.”
Government response
Health Secretary James Murray said: “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.”
NHS England said those trusts with the highest levels of corridor care were now implementing improvement plans aimed at eliminating the practice, with specialist support offered. Professor Francesca Swords, national medical director, said: “Corridor care is totally unacceptable and should have no place in the NHS.”
