Responding to the first ever release of data showing the extent of corridor care in NHS hospitals in England, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said:

“The publication of today’s figures is testament to the dedicated campaigning of nursing staff, but the figures themselves are alarming. They show that this unsafe and undignified practice is rife throughout our hospitals and not just limited to emergency departments. That as many as 3,000 people a day were cared for in corridors during a spring month is such a damning indictment of how far care standards have fallen that words almost fail. 

“Behind these figures aren’t just patients and families suffering, but nursing staff demoralised at being forced to deliver poor care, day in day out. The RCN declared a national emergency on this issue over two years ago. Patients deserve better than the slow action that has followed from government and health leaders. 

“This data is an important step and can help us understand more about the prevalence of corridor care, but attention and investment must also be on eradicating the practice for good. That means renewed urgency and new system-wide investment in beds, the nursing workforce in hospitals, and crucially, long-overdue action to boost capacity in community services and in social care to deliver care closer to home.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

NHS England - Corridor Care – Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports