NHS England and the Health Secretary vow to end corridor care in English hospitals, with plans to boost bed availability and improve discharge planning as winter pressures loom.

The Department of Health and Social Care cites ongoing reforms, noting improvements such as more patients seen within four hours and faster ambulance responses for stroke and chest pain, while reaffirming the commitment to ending corridor care as part of modernization.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says corridor care should be eliminated by the next general election, or sooner.

Analysts point to insufficient beds, high patient loads, and staffing gaps as root causes of unsafe and undignified care, contributing to burnout and moral injury among staff.

RCEM estimates more than 16,600 deaths linked to very long hospital bed waits in the past year, about 320 lives lost weekly.

Similarly, data link overlong A&E waits to more than 16,600 deaths last year, roughly 320 per week, intensifying calls for urgent action at the highest government levels.

Long delays in A&E tied to bed shortages have led to thousands of deaths, underscoring the scale of the crisis.

Nearly one in five March patients were treated in escalation areas such as corridors, highlighting the prevalence of non-traditional care spaces in EDs.

Analyses show a significant share of patients in March were treated in corridors, with figures possibly higher in the current period.

Official NHS data show about 50,648 people waited over 12 hours in November from decision to admit to actual admission, underscoring the bed bottleneck.

Dr. Higginson argues quick-fix measures won’t solve the crisis and likens current efforts to trying to extinguish a fire with water while fuel is added elsewhere.

He advocates systemic reforms: more hospital beds, more staff, and stronger investment in community and social care to enable earlier discharges.