The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published survey findings about doctors’ experiences of delivering care in temporary environments, such as corridors or waiting rooms.
Between 3-16 February 2025, the RCP carried out a member snapshot survey. It included questions to gather insights into doctors’ experiences of providing care for patients in temporary settings.
The RCP defines a temporary care environment as a place in a hospital that is not designed, staffed or equipped for patient care – like corridors, waiting rooms, offices, storage areas, or other inappropriate spaces in the hospital.
The RCP’s snapshot survey showed that of 961 physicians who responded, nearly 4 in 5 (78%) had provided care in a temporary environment in the past month.
889 respondents provided further detail on the last temporary location they delivered care, which included:
- Corridors (45%)
- Additional beds or chairs in patient bays (27%)
- Wards without dedicated bed space (13%)
- Waiting rooms (9%)
- Another location not designed for patient care e.g. bathroom (4.5%)
- Ambulance outside the emergency department (2%).
When asked about the impact of delivering care in these spaces, physicians were invited to select all options that apply, and those most cited were:
- Patient’s privacy and dignity was compromised (90%)
- Clinical practice was physically difficult (81%)
- Patient confidentiality was compromised (80%)
- A lack of access to vital equipment/facilities (75%).
Many physicians gave examples of their experiences of providing care in temporary environments, from performing a point of care echocardiogram in the waiting room to being delayed by trolleys blocking the corridors to resuscitate a patient in A&E.
The RCP is calling for government and the NHS to take action to eliminate corridor care. We’re calling on government and the NHS to:
- publish data all year round on how many patients are being treated in temporary care environments
- protect patients and staff by supporting them when care is delivered in temporary care environments
- prevent corridor care by putting safer systems and smoother processes in place.
The new data published today underlines the urgent need to take steps to tackle the systemic causes of corridor care ahead of next winter.
The RCP’s position statement published in January this year also set out guidance for clinicians and providers who have no choice but to provide care in these conditions. This guidance advises hospitals and local healthcare systems to regularly review demand and capacity for in-patient care and develop robust plans to expand in-patient capacity when required. Clinicians should work as multi-professional teams and with other clinical departments to ensure timely discharge, management, and transfer of patients, prioritising those most in need of care.
If you are a physician and did not get a chance to respond to the survey but would like to share your experiences of corridor care with the RCP, please contact policy@rcp.ac.uk.