RCN joint statement on corridor care within the Post Anaesthetic Care Unit
Corridor care, which is the delivery of treatment in spaces not designed for clinical use, has become a pervasive and deeply troubling feature of our health system. While often associated with overcrowded Emergency Departments (EDs), this practice is now spreading into other critical areas, including Post Anaesthetic Care Units (PACU).
As a group of the Association for Perioperative Practice, British Anaesthetic and Recovery Nurses Association, The College of Operating Department Practitioners, The Royal College of Nursing, The Perioperative Care Collaborative and The Royal College of Anaesthetists, we are united in expressing serious concern about the increasing use of PACUs as holding areas for post-operative patients due to the lack of appropriate bed placements. This is corridor care by another name, and it is unacceptable and unsustainable.
PACUs are intended for short-term, high-acuity monitoring immediately after surgery. When patients are held in these spaces for extended periods because of bed shortages, it compromises clinical safety, delays rehabilitation, and disrupts surgical pathways, often resulting in cancelled procedures and increased pressure on staff.
This is not simply a logistical issue. It reflects a systemic failure to provide adequate capacity and infrastructure for post-operative care. Patients deserve to recover in appropriate environments, and staff deserve conditions that uphold professional standards and wellbeing.
