Corridor Care in the UK: Why It’s Problematic for Patient Safety and Dignity
In recent weeks the phrase “corridor care” has become increasingly visible in public and professional discussions about pressures on the NHS. The term refers to the practice of caring for patients in non-clinical spaces such as hospital corridors, waiting areas, and other overflow zones due to no capacity on the wards.
National guidance from NHS England states that corridor care is unacceptable as standard practice and should only be used “in extremis” for the shortest possible duration because of clear risks to safety and dignity. NHS England » Principles for providing patient care in corridors
Surveys and observational studies suggest that a significant proportion of patients in emergency departments across the UK are being treated in corridors or similar makeshift spaces. A national study titled “understanding corridor and escalation area care in 165 UK emergency departments: a multicentre cross-sectional snapshot study” [December 2025] found that 18% of patients attending emergency departments were being cared for in corridors, waiting rooms, or other non-standard escalation areas effectively nearly 1 in 5 patients despite guidance stating such practice is not acceptable. Understanding corridor and escalation area care in 165 UK emergency departments: a multicentre cross-sectional snapshot study | Emergency Medicine Journal
Patient Safety Concerns
Clinical environments are designed to maintain infection control, provide rapid access to monitoring equipment, and ensure prompt response to deterioration. Corridors and temporary spaces lack adequate privacy, essential clinical equipment, and sufficient space all of which can compromise care quality and patient safety.
Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) research reinforced that corridor care is indeed widespread and poses a “significant patient safety issue”. The RCEM has called on the Government in the UK to fast track efforts to tackle the problem. It is noted by Dr Ian Higginson that these patients are often elderly, vulnerable, have mental health issues or are children. New study on ‘endemic and harmful’ corridor care highlights need for urgent action: RCEM – RCEM
A survey of emergency department clinical leads reported that 19% of patients were being treated in corridors or on chairs in hallways during busy periods and over three-quarters of respondents believed patients were being harmed by poor care quality due to overcrowding.
Professional bodies have underscored that it is not possible to provide truly safe care in non-clinical environments. The Royal College of Physicians reported nearly 80% of clinicians being forced to provide care in unsuitable spaces such as corridors or waiting areas in the past year. Doctors confirm ‘corridor care’ crisis as 80% forced to treat patients in unsafe spaces | RCP
Inhumanity and Loss of Dignity
Beyond clinical risks, corridor care raises profound concerns about the humane experience of patients.
Receiving treatment in public spaces on chairs or trolleys in crowded walkways erodes privacy and dignity, particularly for vulnerable groups like the elderly, people with cognitive impairments, children, and patients with mental health needs. Observational evidence shows that both children and mental health patients are among those being cared for in these spaces.
NHS England’s guidance emphasises that while corridor care should be exceptional, where it occurs “privacy and dignity should be maintained as far as possible”; in reality, this is frequently extremely difficult to uphold given space and staffing pressures.
Ambulance Stacking: A Connected Strain
Closely related to corridor care is the issue of ambulance stacking, where ambulances queue outside emergency departments because there is no capacity to hand patients over for assessment or admission. Again this poses safety and safeguarding concerns.
Royal College of Emergency Medicine data also show that over a third of respondents reported patients being cared for in ambulances pending handover to already overcrowded departments.
Ambulance off-load delays not only compromise patient care with crews tied up at hospital doors instead of responding to new emergencies but also place pressure on pre-hospital services and community resilience.
System Pressures, Not Individual Failings
Corridor care and ambulance stacking are manifestations of wider systemic pressures within the NHS including bed shortages, delayed discharges, workforce constraints, and increasing demand rather than failings by individual clinicians.
According to RCEM leadership, corridor care has become endemic rather than exceptional in many NHS emergency departments across the UK.
Public commentary and recent nursing testimony have also described corridor care as causing severe psychological distress for both patients and staff, and leading to outcomes that are far from safe or dignified.
Commentary from Davies and Partners’ medical law leadership team
Corridor care should never become “normalised.” NHS England’s own principles explicitly state corridor care should not be considered routine practice and must only be used in extremis. Patient-centred safety must guide policy and practice.
Evidence from frontline clinicians shows that corridor care increases risk and undermines the quality of care a reality that must shape policy responses.
Ambulance stacking reflects broader system flow issues. Addressing corridor care requires integrated solutions focused on hospital discharge processes, community care capacity, workforce planning, and urgent care pathways not just short-term operational fixes.
The prevalence of corridor care raises questions about how standards are upheld, how clinical risks are managed, and how patient rights to dignified care are protected issues that require transparency, audit, and accountability in policy making.
It is another issue that our government needs to take seriously and consider a strategic response too in order to ensure our NHS service continues to provide the care it is capable of doing with the right resources, systems and policies in place.