Sir James Mackey  
Chief Executive  
NHS England  
Skipton House  
80 London Road  
London SE1 6LH  

8 August 2025 

Dear Sir Jim,

We are writing as a coalition of organisations representing clinicians, patients, carers, and the public to urge NHS England to publish data on corridor care without further delay.

Last year, the Health Secretary declared a commitment to “consign corridor care to history where it belongs.” This commitment to eradicating corridor care entirely is a necessary and important step, as is its inclusion in the NHS 10 Year Plan. We stand firm in our position that there must be an end to the unsafe and undignified practice of treating patients in spaces not designed, equipped or staffed for patient care, such as corridors, extra beds or chairs in medical admission units, wards designated for same day care, and other inappropriate spaces. However, meaningful progress can only start when there is real transparency.

We had welcomed the commitment in the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan to publish data on corridor care - but we are now well past the Spring publication deadline. We were pleased to see the Health and Social Care Secretary reaffirm his commitment to publishing corridor care data during his appearance at the Health and Social Care Select Committee, and his commitment to regular reporting of this data at his appearance on 12 June at NHS Confed Expo. That data must be published as soon as possible with commitments for it to then be embedded in regular NHS performance data.

This data is critical to building an accurate and honest picture of how corridor care is affecting patients and staff across the system, as well as the scale of the problem. Without it, we cannot meaningfully track progress or ensure that resources and reforms are reaching the areas of greatest need. Crucially, this data must cover not only Urgent and Emergency Care settings, but also ward areas, where we know from clinicians and patients that corridor care is increasingly taking place.

The urgency of this issue is further underscored by the heatwaves affecting the UK this summer. With rising cases of heat-related illness and deaths, particularly among vulnerable and older patients, we are deeply concerned about the conditions faced by those left in hospital corridors and other inappropriate care settings. These spaces are often overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and entirely unsuitable for safe patient care in extreme temperatures. Corridor care during a heatwave is not only unacceptable, but also dangerous and potentially life-threatening.

As we look ahead, winter is just around the corner. Corridor care is already a serious concern, but its risks and consequences are amplified during the colder months, when demand increases and pressure on services intensifies. Timely and accurate data is therefore essential to understand the true effects of corridor care, and to ensure effective winter planning and system preparedness. It is critical that corridor care figures are published in time to inform winter resilience planning, and that during winter they are also integrated into NHS England’s Weekly Winter Situation Reports, enabling emerging pressure points to be identified early, monitored consistently, and addressed swiftly as part of a coordinated response.

Ending corridor care is a matter of patient safety, staff wellbeing, and public trust. We stand ready to work constructively with NHS England to support the delivery of this shared ambition, and believe that work must begin with a clear understanding of the problem, and that requires data.

We would be grateful for your response at your earliest convenience, including a timeline for when the initial data collection and regular reporting will be made available and for a full implementation plan on the eradication of corridor care.

Yours sincerely,

The Corridor Care Coalition  

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