Sandy Harding, Associate Director of Nursing, Policy and Professional Practice, Royal College of Nursing Wales said: “These findings are deeply disturbing and reflect our members’ experience in our 2025 report On the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis.

“Every day, our members are witnessing the consequences of a system under extreme and sustained pressure, where patients are waiting far too long in environments that are not fit for safe, dignified care.

“Corridor care has become an all-too-common reality in our hospitals, with patients being treated in inappropriate spaces without the privacy, monitoring, or resources they need. This is not what patients deserve, and it is not what nursing staff are trained to deliver.

“Behind the figures are real people - patients whose conditions can deteriorate rapidly while waiting and nursing staff who are doing everything they can in increasingly difficult circumstances. The emotional and professional toll on the workforce cannot be overstated.

“We urgently need action to address the root causes of these delays, including improving patient flow, increasing capacity and investing in both health and social care services. Without meaningful intervention, we risk normalising a level of care that falls far below acceptable standards.

“Our Election Manifesto is clear that the next Welsh government must eradicate corridor care as a matter of urgency, and we expect that in the first 50 days of being in office that they:

• commit to publish Corridor Care data by Health Board monthly
• direct NHS Wales to pause the reduction in hospital beds and commission two national reviews, to examine A&E and hospital bed capacity at different levels of patient dependency
• establish care delivered to a patient in a chair for more than 24 hours as a “never event”.”

ENDS