Wes Streeting pledges to end corridor care in English hospitals by next election
The Health Secretary's vow on LBC comes after a briefing note from nurses' leaders called the levels of 'corridor care' a 'crisis'
The Health Secretary has pledged to end corridor care in hospitals in England by the next general election, “if not sooner”.
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Wes Streeting said it is not acceptable that people are being treated on trolleys in hospital corridors.
It comes as leading nurses said there has been “insufficient urgency” to tackle the “crisis of corridor care”.
Mr Streeting said the issue is being tackled with “urgency, focus and attention”.
Earlier this year, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) set out how patients are being treated in “distressing and undignified” circumstances, risking their safety.
Since then, the RCN said there has been recognition of the issue by the Government and health leaders, but it warned there is a “potential for a repeat of the unacceptable scale of corridor care” as the NHS enters its busy winter period.
This could be “more dangerous for patients” and they are being “set up to suffer”, the RCN said.
The college said it has “serious questions” about the readiness of the NHS going into winter.
Asked when he would “consign corridor care to history where it belongs”, Mr Streeting told LBC Radio: “Well, I want to do that over the course of this Parliament.
“That’s where I want to be. If I can get it done sooner, I will.
“We can’t have people being treated on trolleys in corridors.
“And, in fact, I’ve seen some reports over the last year or so of things like Costa Coffee outlets and the reception area being used to hold patients, and I do not think that’s acceptable.”
The new briefing document from the RCN calls corridor care in the NHS a “crisis” and highlights the scale of 12-hour weights in A&E and the proportion of patients who leave emergency departments without being treated.
It raises concerns that bed capacity in the health service has “remained unchanged” since 2019, while bed occupancy levels have stayed high “at thresholds widely regarded as unsafe”.
The college said pressure on the NHS has “intensified over the years” and “explains why corridor care is continuing and could worsen because of winter pressures”.
Asked about the RCN briefing document, Mr Streeting told LBC: “This is something I think we are giving urgency and focus and attention to, but I would accept that what they are describing in terms of the conditions that their members are working in, their patients are being treated in, I absolutely accept what they are saying and their characterisation of that.
“I am giving it urgency, but I would accept that there is a lot more to do and I want to put my foot down on the accelerator, and I want to work with the RCN to do that.”
The warning comes after resident doctors in England announced they will be staging strike action in the run-up to Christmas, from December 17 to 22.
Official figures show the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 54,314 in October, up from 44,765 in September.
Meanwhile, some 74.1% of patients were seen within four hours in A&Es in October, down from 75.1% in September.
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: "It's good to hear Wes Streeting making it clear on LBC that he really does 'get it' about the unacceptable conditions that some patients and staff are having to endure in our hospitals due to the prevalence of 'corridor care'.
"However, his stated desire to end corridor care 'within this Parliament' falls a long way short of the urgent, costed plan Age UK has called on the Government to produce.
"In addition, July 2029 - the latest date at which this Parliament might end - is far too distant a timescale for the Government to aim for, given the harm and distress 'corridor care' is inflicting on the public and hospital staff alike every day."
Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, told LBC News: "It has to be done by the end of the next election. And as the Health Secretary says, there sooner is possible. You know, corridor care should never be accepted as normal. It's distressing, it strips people of dignity and it increases the risk of harm, as we've heard. And patients have been raising the alarm around unsafe to non dignified conditions for a while and the situation seems to be worsening."
"You know, unfortunately, I did have the personal experience of watching an elderly loved one being treated in a corridor care and watched people around that elderly person was okay, because I was there with them. But imagine being seriously ill, having no privacy and feeling that you're just being abandoned in this area. It's not good for patients, but it's also not good for the frontline staff who are trying to manage high numbers."
She added: "I think we need the promised data so that we can see it's been achieved. I don't think that we can keep hearing it's going to be done by a next date. I believe that the Health Secretary believes that he does want to do that, but without committing to the publishing the corridor care data which was promised in spring of 2025, without that transparency, we have no way of really knowing whether the situation is getting better or worse. And when we have data we can take meaning action with that data."
The Royal College of Nursing said: "We're ready to work with the secretary of state and provide our expertise to help eradicate corridor care, but those discussions cannot wait any longer.
"They need to start now, with a goal of ending this unacceptable practice urgently.
"We also need to see government finally come good on its promise to publish full data on how prevalent corridor care is in hospitals and exactly where it is taking place, including emergency departments and beyond. Full transparency is required to tackle this crisis."