Almost 3,000 patients every day were forced to receive care in hospital corridors and temporary treatment areas across England last month, highlighting the growing pressure on NHS services and raising fresh concerns about patient safety and dignity.
Newly published NHS data reveals the scale of the problem for the first time, offering a stark picture of the challenges facing hospitals as demand continues to outstrip capacity. Ministers have described the practice as both unsafe and unacceptable.
Corridor care refers to patients spending more than 45 minutes receiving treatment in non-clinical or temporary spaces, including corridors, side rooms, makeshift areas and even car parks. It also includes patients left on or near wards without being allocated a hospital bed.
The figures show that during May, an average of 2,241 patients per day experienced corridor care within Accident and Emergency departments. A further 669 patients daily were treated in unsuitable spaces elsewhere in hospitals.
Overall, the number represents around 3% to 4% of patients arriving at hospital through A&E services each day.
NHS analysis found that a relatively small number of hospital trusts accounted for the majority of cases. Twenty trusts were responsible for more than half of corridor care incidents in emergency departments, while another 20 trusts accounted for more than two-thirds of cases elsewhere within hospitals.
Patients and their families have shared accounts of long waits and difficult conditions caused by overcrowding.
Suzanne, whose mother is in her eighties, said she had taken her mother to A&E five times this year at hospitals in the East Midlands. Each visit involved waiting more than 24 hours in a corridor.
She described her mother as being one trolley among countless others, often confused and distressed. Suzanne said family members were frequently required to help with basic needs such as obtaining drinks or assisting with toilet visits.
She added that she feared what might have happened if relatives had not been present to support her mother.
Another patient, Kathy, was referred to hospital by her GP with a suspected eye infection. She spent 36 hours sitting in a chair at a hospital in the East of England before doctors informed her that her blurred vision was actually caused by a brain tumour.
She described the experience as exhausting and overwhelming.
Healthcare workers have also spoken about the impact of corridor care on both patients and staff.
One nurse described an emergency department where corridors were filled with patients awaiting treatment. During one shift, patients witnessed a body being moved to the mortuary, while another patient later suffered cardiac arrest in the same corridor.
The nurse said such situations deprived patients of dignity and created deeply distressing conditions.
Another healthcare worker compared the department to a war zone and recalled an incident in which a patient died unnoticed while waiting in a corridor.
Staff continue to warn that overcrowding is contributing to burnout and making it increasingly difficult to provide safe and compassionate care.
The UK Government has pledged to eliminate corridor care across the NHS by 2029.
Health Minister James Murray said the practice has no place in the NHS and confirmed that publishing the data is intended to highlight where intervention is most urgently needed.
He said the majority of corridor care cases are concentrated within a relatively small number of organisations and that targeted support will be provided to help address the issue.
The Royal College of Nursing described the figures as alarming and said they demonstrate how widespread unsafe and undignified care has become.
Its general secretary, Nicola Ranger, warned that both patients and nursing staff are suffering as a result of persistent overcrowding and insufficient capacity.
Meanwhile, The King’s Fund said the figures confirm a problem that should never have become normalised within the NHS.
Health policy experts welcomed the publication of the data but cautioned that transparency alone will not solve the issue. They argue that long-term investment, increased staffing and expanded hospital capacity will be required to reduce waiting times and end the reliance on corridor care.
As pressure on NHS services continues to grow, the latest figures underline the urgent need for reform to ensure patients receive treatment in safe, appropriate and dignified clinical settings.