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Nearly 3,000 people in England are receiving care in corridors, chairs and trolleys each day in hospitals.
The term corridor care, or temporary care environment refers to care given in areas such as waiting rooms, corridors, chairs and spaces outside emergency departments that are not designed for the delivery of inpatient care. Initially these were considered as a temporary escalation space during periods of emergency pressure, however, due to increased patient flow, what was once seen as a temporary solution is now becoming routine, raising concerns about safety, privacy and patient experience. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) describe corridor care as unsafe, undignified and unacceptable, often compromising quality of patient care.
Nationally, a survey by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the APPG on Emergency Care found that 1 in 5 individuals are given treatment in corridors, chairs and trolleys in emergency departments in the UK. NHS England acknowledge that corridor care contributes to worse outcomes for patients, their families and staff providing care. They also identify groups that should never receive corridor care, including those with mental health needs and children.
For the first time, in March 2026 the NHS published data on corridor care. NHS England reported that on average 2,910 patients receive corridor care each day. Of these, 77% occurred in emergency departments compared with 23% in general and acute wards, indicating that corridor care is 3.3 times more common in emergency departments. During winter, pressures may further increase the demand on already stretched services which can lead to corridor care.
How this impacts patients in Kent and Medway
Between June 2025 and May 2026, EK360, including Healthwatch Kent and Healthwatch Medway, listened to 1,007 experiences through engagement in acute Hospitals in Kent and Medway.
28% of all hospital feedback was related to emergency departments. 79% of all emergency department feedback was relating to corridor care.
Between December 2025 and February 2026, 7% of all hospital feedback was relating to corridor care, compared with 2% during the rest of the year.
Our data suggests that local people were 3.5 times more likely to experiences corridor care during the winter months than at other times of the year.
However, national evidence suggests that corridor care is not completely a seasonal issue. As HSSIB found that temporary care environments are now used routinely in response to ongoing patient flow pressures throughout the year. Our findings suggest that winter pressures may intensify corridor care locally, but are unlikely to be the sole cause, as underlying pressures persist year-round.
Why this matters
Our data correlates with HSSIB findings that corridor care has an impact on how patients experience care within local hospitals, often resulting in a lack of privacy and dignity, and creating patient safety risks. HSSIB also linked corridor care with increased risk of pressure injuries and falls, especially among older people.
Our data shows that over 1 in 2 (53%) people receiving corridor care were over the age of 55. 1 in 5 (21%) had a disability, and around 1 in 7 (15%) had a long-term health condition.
“My loved one is in the hospital A&E having been sectioned. We are on day five waiting for a mental health bed. We have had to sleep on the floor. He has not been medicated. He is extremely distressed. The hospital is doing their best but this in inhumane treatment of someone very unwell.”
“I spent 24 hours in a corridor with no privacy, limited access to toilet, leaving me to feel embarrassed, anxious and absolutely horrified to be left like this at over 80 years of age. Nobody should be so degraded whilst being so vulnerable and feeling so ill.”
“We went into A&E and asked where our loved one was. We had to ask a few times before we found her. She was on a trolly in a room full of other people with A&E problems. There was no privacy… I asked if she could be moved to a room or somewhere less public. The nurse said that there might not be time but that she would send a message to the ward. We chased this up but were told that, 'Because she is going to die soon, we probably won't find a bed in time'. I got very upset. It felt inhuman.”
As Kent and Medway move into a ‘neighbourhood health’ model of care, providers have started to use the Johns Hopkins ‘Patient Need Groups’ (PNG) stratification tool to understand population health and offer care that is joined up and personalised. Many people experiencing corridor care may already fall into higher Patient Need Groups due to age-related conditions, disability, or long-term health conditions. Exposure to corridor care could further increase risks for patients, potentially moving them into higher need groups when this could have been avoided.
Action is being taken nationally to support safe, quality care in temporary escalation spaces, and in May 2026, NHS England published actions to eliminate corridor care completely. However, in Kent and Medway, corridor care is still a pressing issue. Recent CQC inspections are highlighting the need to ‘decrease the use of corridor care’ in emergency departments within hospitals across Kent and Medway and mitigate the true impact of operational pressures on people’s experiences of emergency care.
