“This must be a watershed moment” RCEM responds to ‘harrowing’ RCN corridor care report

“How is it fair to tell someone they are dying in a corridor?”

A couple told their miscarriage care options in a crowded corridor. An elderly person with dementia being changed next to a vending machine. Nurses in tears.

Just a few examples of the daily reality of NHS nursing staff caused by huge levels of demand and over-crowding in hospitals which has been captured in a new report compiled by the Royal College of Nursing.

The report’s harrowing content must represent ‘a watershed moment for the government’ according to The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).

The findings, from a survey of more than 5,000 nurses conducted between 18 December 2024 and 11 January 2025, make shocking reading.

Called ‘On the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis’, it reveals more than nine out of 10 nurses believe patient safety is at risk due to A&Es being overcrowded.

It also found:

• More than two thirds of nurses who respondents (66%) had on a daily basis treated patients in an “inappropriate setting” such as a corridor, storage area, waiting room or car park
• When asked in what inappropriate setting they had most recently delivered care in -– 62% said in a corridor, 16% said on an extra bed or chair in a bay, 6% said in a waiting room. Other examples included taxis, car parks, storerooms and even toilets.

But what really hits hard is the personal experiences which nurses from across the country have shared detailing the awful conditions they, and their patients, are facing day in, day out.

The publication will make difficult reading for the Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP who just yesterday said that the government will “never accept or tolerate patients being treated in corridors”.

Dr Adrian Boyle, President of RCEM said: “No one who reads these harrowing testimonies will fail to be moved by them. I am so saddened that this is the level of care we as clinicians are being forced to provide to our patients – people who turn to the NHS and its staff when they are most vulnerable and in need.

“And the toll it is taking on staff is clear, people in tears, frustrated, angry and in some case even giving up their careers because they cannot face going to work every day not being able to provide the level of care they want to. A situation I know is replicated amongst our members too.

“Our nursing colleagues have spoken loudly and clearly, and the horror of the situation is stark and cannot be ignored.

“This must be a watershed moment, a line in the sand. Yesterday the Secretary of State committed to learning the lessons from this winter and reiterated the Government’s ambition to end corridor care before next winter – ending this national health shame must be a political priority.”

This week, RCEM co-signed a letter written by the RCN to the Health Secretary calling for an end to ‘Corridor Care’.

Last month, RCEM described NHSE guidance detailing how to deliver “safe” care in corridors as a “normalisation of the unacceptable and dangerous.”