‘We simply cannot accept this way of working’
The RCP has called on the NHS to eliminate ‘corridor care’.
Too many patients are being treated in temporary care environments, like hospital corridors and waiting room chairs, in spaces in wards not designed, staffed or equipped for patient care. This is unsafe and unacceptable, and puts patient safety, dignity and staff wellbeing at risk.
The RCP has issued a new statement, calling on the NHS and governments across the UK to:
- formally measure and nationally report on how many patients are being treated in temporary care environments all year round
- put systems and processes in place to eliminate ‘corridor care’
- support patients and staff when care is delivered in temporary care environments.
NHS England’s recent announcement to record data on the use of temporary escalation spaces across all NHS trusts from January 2025 is a welcome step forward. The RCP says these data must be published as soon as possible – and reported regularly all year round through NHS England’s monthly performance statistics, as these incidents of care are no longer a problem confined to the winter months.
The position statement also sets out guidance for NHS staff and healthcare providers to support them to manage this issue while appropriate action is taken to abolish ‘corridor care’.
Dr John Dean, RCP clinical vice president, said: ‘Given the increasing prevalence of patients receiving care in corridors and other places not designed for care, we hope this new guidance will support physicians, other healthcare professionals and their patients to deliver care in these very challenging conditions while the NHS and government take steps to end this practice.
‘Every patient deserves high quality care in a safe place, yet far too many people are being treated in a way that compromises their safety, dignity, and recovery.
‘We need to understand the full scale of the problem, which is why we have welcomed the recent NHS England commitment to recording data on the use of temporary escalation spaces across all NHS trusts from January 2025. However, this data must be clearly defined, published as soon as possible, and reported regularly all year round. ‘Corridor care’ is no longer a problem confined to the winter months.’
Crowding in emergency departments (EDs) has become increasingly prevalent in the UK over several years but has particularly escalated over the past 12–18 months. In December 2024 alone, over 54,000 patients in England waited over 12 hours in EDs for admission – with many likely to have received care in inappropriate spaces – and we know that patients who spend more than 12 hours in an ED are twice as likely to die within 30 days as those treated, transferred or discharged within two hours. Many hospitals have also created extra bed spaces, or temporary bed spaces on wards to increase capacity. This places extra pressure on staff in these wards and worsens the experience and effectiveness of care for all patients on the ward.
Dr Dean added: ‘We welcome the UK government’s commitment to assess which winter preparedness measures have made a difference to performance (and which have not) so we don’t find ourselves in this situation again in the future.’
Samantha Mauger, chair of the RCP Patient Carer Network, said: ‘Patients and carers attending an ED will be worried, scared and sometimes, in crisis. They deserve to be heard and treated in spaces designed for hospital care. it is vital the recommendations are acted upon.
‘’Corridor care’ is a clear symptom of the broader challenges facing the NHS, and has profound implications for patient safety, dignity and staff wellbeing. Patients being cared for in temporary care environments deserve the same standard of care that is offered to all patients admitted to hospital.’
Dr Hilary Williams, RCP vice president for Wales, said: ‘It’s disheartening, distressing and disturbing to be treating patients who are lying on trolleys or sitting in chairs, especially when they are older, frail and vulnerable. We simply cannot accept this way of working. It must never be normalised.’
Dr Anthony Martinelli and Dr Catherine Rowan, co-chairs, RCP Resident Doctor Committee, said: ‘Over the decade we’ve spent working in the NHS, treating patients in corridors has gone from being almost unheard of to a daily feature of life as a resident physician. Many newly qualified doctors have known no other reality. We must work together to show that the NHS can improve and get back to providing the safe, dignified, and high-quality care that patients deserve.’