05/12/25
Responding to comments from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, confirming his commitment to end ‘corridor care’ by 2029, the President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Ian Higginson, said:
“Corridor care is the biggest challenge currently facing the NHS, so we greatly welcome the commitment from the Secretary of Health and Social Care to fully eradicate it by 2029.
“It is the most visible symptom of a health service struggling to move patients safely and swiftly through the system. It is undignified for patients and those experiencing it are usually elderly, sick and at their most vulnerable, having to wait the longest for admission to a hospital bed. It is also distressing for staff, many of whom are exhausted and burnt out.
“Most importantly, it puts lives at risk. For every 72 patients waiting 8-12 hours in emergency departments, we know that one person will die.
“No one in a developed country should have to watch their loved one be treated in a hospital corridor.
“We have been intensely frustrated at the lack of effective action around this problem. Fixing something that has been getting worse over many years will take time, effort and resource but it can be fixed and we are pleased to see a firm political will to do so. We now need to see words matched with action in the short term to mitigate what will be an extremely difficult winter. RCEM stands ready to help the Department of Health and Social Care in any way it can.”