Outcry as 80 per cent of NHS doctors admit they’re now routinely treating patients in corridors, waiting rooms and toilets
Corridor care has become ‘the new normal’ in the NHS, health leaders warned last night after disturbing new figures revealed eight in ten doctors have had to offer treatment in ‘unsuitable’ public spaces in the past month.
The damning report from the Royal College of Physicians found patients were often stripped of their dignity and routinely had their safety compromised.
Three quarters of medics surveyed also admitted to struggling to access vital equipment or facilities when delivering care.
One, shockingly, said they ‘had more than one patient die directly as a result of not being in an appropriate clinical area — on a trolley in the corridor rather than in resus’.
They had also seen ‘end-of-life patients waiting for hours in the back of ambulances or in emergency departments, feeling like they are a burden’.
Dr John Dean, clinical vice president, said: ‘These findings confirm what doctors across the NHS already know — corridor care is becoming routine, and that is simply unacceptable.
‘Treating patients in inappropriate spaces compromises their dignity, safety, and quality of care, while also placing enormous strain on staff.
‘No doctor should have to resuscitate a patient in a blocked corridor or watch patients spend their final hours in undignified conditions.’
The survey of almost 1,000 doctors across the UK, found patients were being cruelly stripped of their dignity and routinely had their safety compromised
The survey, carried out earlier this month, gathered the responses almost 1,000 physicians in specialties including cardiology, respiratory medicine and general internal medicine.
Some 78 per cent revealed they had provided care in a temporary environment in the past month.
Of the 889 respondents who gave further details on where this care was delivered, 45 per cent said it was in a corridor.
More than a quarter (27 per cent) admitted it was in additional beds or chairs in patient bays.
One in ten (13 per cent), meanwhile, said they had given care in wards without a dedicated bed space, while nine per cent had cared for patients in waiting rooms.
A further 4.5 per cent said they had used spaces ‘not designed for patient care’ such as bathrooms.
Nine in 10 doctors said delivering care in these locations compromised patient privacy and dignity.
One medic that responded to the poll said: ‘I have had more than one patient die directly as a result of not being in an appropriate clinical area — on a trolley in the corridor rather than in resus, as there was no room for them.’
Tamara Davis was just 31 when she died after being ‘abandoned’ in a corridor with 19 other patients
Another described corridor care as a ‘travesty’.
Responding to the survey, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said: ‘To think that corridor care has not just become accepted but the standard way our hospitals operate is utterly harrowing.
‘Hearing stories of people dying in glorified cupboards or having to be resuscitated in crowded corridors is heartbreaking and we should never accept that this is just the way things are now.
‘Labour’s lack of urgency in gripping this has been inexcusable. Patients cannot take any more of the can being kicked down the road.’
Dr Nick Murch, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, added: ‘These findings, while shocking, are not unexpected.
‘The issue of corridor care is one we, and many others, have raised consistently over recent years — not just months.
‘The Secretary of State has said previously that he will never accept or tolerate care in corridors, yet the measures needed to change that direction — increased capacity, workforce and improvements in social care — have so far been avoided.
‘This lack of action is condemning many more patients to care in corridors and the current trajectory already suggests it is going to be worse next year not better, meaning this temporary issue is becoming a worrying, new normal.’
Patients sleep in beds lining a hospital corridor in overrun A&E department at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford in December 2024
The Department for Health and Social Care was approached for comment.
The findings also come just weeks after another damning report found dead patients were lying undiscovered for hours in A&E because staff are too overstretched to notice.
The ‘harrowing’ document, published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last month, revealed a severe shortage of beds has meant the sick are being left in ‘animal-like’ conditions in hospital car parks, cupboards and toilets.
The 460-page dossier, featuring testimonies of more than 5,000 nurses, said it had become ‘normalised’ for patients to be left for days at a time in chairs or trolleys in ‘inappropriate settings’, rather than on a ward.
Demoralised nurses also reported caring for as many as 40 patients in a single corridor — some blocking fire exits or parked next to vending machines.
Last year, NHS England said it would start recording data on the use of temporary escalation spaces across all NHS trusts from January 2025.
But, Dr Dean today added: ‘NHS England’s decision to start recording data on this crisis is a step in the right direction, but it must be made public and acted upon urgently.
‘We need systemic reforms to expand capacity, improve patient flow, protect patient safety, and ensure that corridor care is eliminated — not normalised.’
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Increasing levels of demand have resulted in extreme pressures on services, particularly during one of the toughest winters the NHS has experienced — but we remain clear that caring for patients in temporary spaces is not acceptable and should never be considered as standard.
‘We know there is much more to do to ensure people get treated quicker in an emergency and avoid being admitted to A&E unless they need to and when there, provide faster and safer care for patients.’
