Responding to the latest release of data showing the extent of corridor care in NHS hospitals in England, RCN Chief Nursing Officer Professor Lynn Woolsey said:

"These figures show just how entrenched corridor care has become in hospitals in England and why it is important to have transparency on the scale of this unsafe care. It’s clear that the extreme heat is supercharging the problem, exposing already under-resourced services and putting people in serious danger.

“The hottest June on record saw nearly 3,200 people being cared for in corridors every day across hospitals, a 10% increase on the previous month. It is exhausting and demoralising for nursing staff, and dangerous for patients, with no respite in sight. We are deeply concerned that ministers aren’t yet recognising just how difficult things are and how much worse they could become without action.

“The priority for the new administration must be sustained investment in beds and the nursing workforce, alongside boosting capacity in community services and social care to treat people closer to home. That’s how you ease pressures on hospital services and prevent unsafe, undignified and unacceptable corridor care.”

Ends

Notes to editors

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