Nearly 3,000 patients every day were cared for in hospital corridors or makeshift treatment areas in England last month, according to official data released by NHS England for the first time. The figures, which cover May, reveal an average of 2,241 instances daily of patients receiving corridor care for more than 45 minutes in A&E departments, along with a further 699 instances on hospital wards.
What Is Corridor Care?
A patient is classified as receiving corridor care if their treatment does not occur in a clinically appropriate and safe setting. The criteria for an appropriate setting include privacy, access to food, water, and toilets, and the ability to control lighting and noise to allow sleep. The data covers patients receiving treatment or waiting for assessment, admission, or transfer, but excludes delays involving ambulance handovers.
Expert Reactions
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." He noted that corridor care equates to three in every 100 patients attending A&E daily.
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, called the figures "alarming," stating: "That as many as 3,000 people a day were cared for in corridors during a spring month is such a damning indictment of how far care standards have fallen that words almost fail."
NHS 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 at the end of April, up from 7.11 million in March, returning to February levels. In May, 50,212 patients waited over 12 hours in A&E from a decision to admit to actual admission, up from 47,750 in April. Only 75.7% of patients were seen within four hours, down from 76.9%.
Government Response
Health Secretary James Murray said: "Corridor care is unacceptable, undignified and has no place in our NHS." He noted that expert teams have been deployed to struggling trusts and that ending corridor care will take time. NHS England said 20 trusts accounted for over half of emergency department corridor care cases and are implementing improvement plans.
Professor Francesca Swords, NHS national medical director, stated: "Corridor care is totally unacceptable and should have no place in the NHS, and this is why we have set out a seven-point plan to eradicate it."
