As pressure on emergency departments continues, the Royal College of Physicians calls on the government to release long-promised data on corridor care.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has called on the government to publish promised data on corridor care, as new NHS England performance figures show sustained pressure on urgent and emergency care services in England.
The renewed call from the RCP comes as new NHS figures show that 2.3 million people attended emergency departments in England last month, up from 2.2 million in January last year, and more than 71,000 patients waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit to being admitted last month – the highest figure recorded since the dataset began in 2010.
An average of 13,823 beds each day last month were being used by patients who were medically fit to be discharged but remained in hospital.
“Recently, an older patient was left on a chair in a corridor for more than 12 hours after a fall, despite being in pain and having multiple long-term conditions. During that time, their condition deteriorated – developing sepsis and dehydration – before eventually being moved to a high-dependency unit,” said RCP president Mumtaz Patel.
“They sadly died a few days later. No patient should ever be put through an experience like this,” she continued.
Urgent action
As Healthcare Today has repeatedly written, temporary care environments, commonly referred to as “corridor care”, are being used across NHS trusts, and there are widespread concerns about normalising their use and the impact on patients and staff.
In mid-January, a report from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) urged healthcare leaders and NHS Trusts to understand and manage the risks that temporary care environments may present to patient safety.
RCP snapshot surveys in 2025 revealed that physicians were treating patients in corridors, storage cupboards and even gyms – spaces with no privacy, no dignity and, in some cases, not even basic equipment like oxygen or resuscitation facilities. In recognition of how widespread corridor care had become, in October last year, the RCP published updated guidance to support physicians delivering inpatient care in both permanent and temporary environments.
“We were expecting published data on corridor care last Spring – but we are still waiting. The government must now urgently confirm a timeline setting out when this data will finally be released and regularly published. We need all year-round data on how many patients are being treated in temporary care environments,” said Patel.
“We also need action to prevent corridor care in the first place. It’s not only patients who are suffering, but corridor care also risks driving doctors away from the NHS. Our snapshot survey of physicians last September showed that many felt corridor care had become normalised, and some said working in these conditions had made them consider leaving their roles,” she added.
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