BBC investigation finds 50,000 people waited over 24 hours in A&E corridor care
#Corridor care #A&E waiting times #NHS capacity #Hospital admissions #Healthcare emergency #Nursing crisis #Bed shortages #Patient dignity
📌 Key Takeaways
- Over 52,000 patients in north-west England waited more than 24 hours for hospital admission in 2025
- Corridor care has become normalized despite being described as a 'national emergency' by healthcare professionals
- The issue persists year-round, not just during winter months, indicating systemic problems
- The situation is causing severe distress to both patients and healthcare staff, contributing to a staffing crisis
- The government has pledged to end corridor care by 2029, but immediate action is being demanded
📖 Full Retelling
A BBC investigation has revealed that over 52,000 patients in north-west England waited longer than 24 hours to be admitted to hospitals throughout 2025, forcing them to receive care in corridors due to severe bed shortages, a situation described by the Royal College of Nursing as a 'national emergency' that has been exacerbated by rising healthcare demands and an ageing population. Known as 'corridor care,' these patients were left lining up on trolleys or sitting on chairs in emergency departments while awaiting admission to proper hospital wards, with 6,893 of them waiting more than 48 hours before receiving a proper bed. The investigation found that nearly one in five patients (18%) experienced waits exceeding 12 hours after a clinician decided they needed admission, with the situation becoming so normalized that hospitals have now assigned specific staff to manage corridor care as if it were another ward. Despite being commonly attributed to 'winter pressures,' the data showed that 12,458 of those waiting over 24 hours and 1,342 waiting over 48 hours did so during the warmer months between May and August, indicating a systemic issue rather than a seasonal problem. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has characterized the situation nationwide as 'a national shame,' with nursing staff reporting extreme emotional distress, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting has pledged to end corridor care by 2029, though healthcare professionals emphasize that immediate action is necessary as the system faces a critical staffing crisis with a 30% reduction in nursing degree applications compared to five years ago.
🏷️ Themes
Healthcare Crisis, Patient Care, Staffing Issues
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Original Source
BBC investigation finds 50,000 people waited over 24 hours in A&E corridor care 47 minutes ago Share Save Gill Dummigan North West health correspondent Share Save More than 52,000 patients waited longer than 24 hours to be admitted to hospitals across north-west England last year, a BBC investigation has revealed. Known as "corridor care", patients are lining up on trolleys or sitting on chairs, stuck in A&E because there are no beds for them in the wards. The Royal College of Nursing has described the situation as a "national emergency" and called on the government to end the practice. NHS England said the NHS was currently experiencing its busiest winter on record and hospitals around the country had been "experiencing rising demand for a number of years". Dr Michael Gregory, regional medical director for NHS England in the North West, said: "Providing care in corridors is not what we want for our patients, and we are working hard to reduce the use of corridor care and tackle long waits." Every month the government publishes the number of people waiting more than 12 hours for a bed in a ward, after a clinician decides they need to be admitted to hospital. It is important to note that the clock starts with this decision and it could be taken hours after that patient originally entered A&E. Eight years ago, waits of more than 12 hours to be admitted were seen as unusual – more than a handful usually indicated a particular issue with a trust. In December 2018 there were 101 in this region - 0.2% of the total number of people admitted - and most of those were down to a problem with one mental health trust. By December 2025 that number had ballooned to 10,658 - nearly 18% of patients going into hospital from A&E. In other words, nearly one in five people spending long hours stuck on a corridor, waiting room, or a bay, with no idea of when it was going to end. But within that increase, there is an even darker truth: many of those 12+ hours waits are actually one, two or...
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