Corridor care ‘best worse option’ as hospitals adapt temporary spaces
Some NHS hospitals are adapting corridors and other spaces to provide care by installing plug sockets and emergency call bells in a bid to minimise patient safety risks, an investigation has found.
Senior staff told the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) that they made the investment as they “could not avoid using these spaces”.
A new report by the health safety watchdog said hospitals “may have no choice” but to use these spaces and called for health leaders and trusts to work together to “systematically address” risks.
It called for a “nationally agreed definition” of so-called temporary care environments, such as corridors, offices and storerooms, along with a better understanding of how and when they are used in the NHS.
For the probe, the HSSIB visited 13 hospitals between August and December 2025, and included input from a further four hospitals.
It highlighted that issues around patient flow that lead to corridor care are “constant” and “used throughout the year”, not just during winter.
The HSSIB said in all cases observed, corridor care was being regularly used.
Some hospitals had made physical adaptations to temporary spaces, such as installing emergency call bells, plug sockets, patient call bells and communication systems.
A number of senior hospital staff told investigators that they did not want to make the changes as they “did not want to normalise” corridor care.
However, others said they adapted the spaces because they “could not avoid” using them.
Doctors and nurses told the HSSIB that corridor care is the “best worse” option, and that leaving people at home, in ambulances or unseen in waiting rooms were considered the “worst options”.
Senior staff also said that “there was always a drive to reduce or eliminate the need for temporary care environments”.
However, this could present a “barrier” to trusts “putting all the possible patient safety mitigations in place”, according to the HSSIB.
The investigation also found that there were inconsistencies in data collection when it comes to care in temporary spaces, leading to a poor understanding of their impact on patient safety.
The HSSIB called for the NHS to bolster its understanding of why these spaces are used to improve patient safety, including agreeing on definitions of temporary care environments and boosting information gathering.
Saskia Fursland, senior safety investigator at the HSSIB, said: “Until there is a solution to the complex underlying issues related to patient flow, we must recognise that hospitals may have no choice but to use temporary care environments.
“By working together with a shared understanding, healthcare leaders and NHS trusts can better understand the use of temporary care environments and their impact on patient safety in a consistent way and systematically address the risks to patient safety.”
The patient safety risks highlighted in the report included difficulty monitoring patients and recognising those who were deteriorating, increased risk of infection, a lack of piped oxygen and insufficient staff levels.
Investigators spoke to patients who were being cared for on trolleys in corridors who were “grateful” they were not in a chair in a waiting room.
Ms Fursland said: “In contrast to the chaotic picture that’s often presented of ‘corridor care’, in the course of our investigation we saw first-hand how individual NHS trusts are adapting to ensure that the patient safety risks associated with using temporary care environments are being mitigated.”
Reacting to the findings, Chris McCann, deputy chief executive at Healthwatch England, said: “The stories people share with us highlight the urgent need to address the realities of corridor care.
“One person told us in December they waited 40 hours in a hospital corridor, during which time a patient next to them died on a trolley.
“Sleep deprivation, loss of dignity, exposure to distressing situations, and the desperation that drives people to self‑discharge put patients’ health and wellbeing at risk.
“No one should ever have to receive medical care in a hallway.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “No-one should receive care in a corridor – the situation we inherited is unacceptable and undignified, and we are determined to end it.
“That is why NHS England is working closely with trusts to reduce variation, tackle inconsistencies, improve data collection and reduce discharge delays, alongside social care colleagues.
“Staff are under immense pressure, and this report highlights the dedication and professionalism of those who are keeping patients safe and delivering the best care they can.
“We know there is a long road ahead.”
It comes as a senior medic raised concerns about the Government’s focus on so-called online hospitals.
From next year, patients with certain conditions referred by their GP will be able to use the NHS app for video consultations with doctors around the country.
Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said she welcomes initiatives that may improve access for some, but said that “anything other than directly addressing the crisis happening now in urgent and emergency care – one that is causing unprecedented harm to patients – is unacceptable”.
“Urgent and emergency care, which includes acute medicine, has simply not been afforded the priority it requires and the crisis continues to deepen – and it will for as long the core problems remain unresolved,” she added.
“The dangers associated with prolonged stays in emergency departments are well established: for every 72 patients who wait between eight and 12 hours for admission, there is one excess death.
“This evidence has been available for years and keeps coming, as it evident again today in the HSSIB report on corridor care. There is no justification for this continuing.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub