Ministers say corridor care is not acceptable, so why is it still happening?

Thank you to everyone who has already written to the Government about corridor care. Your voices were heard and we’ve now received a reply from the Minister for Health, Karin Smyth MP.

The Minister agrees that corridor care is “not acceptable” but when we looked more closely:

The reply does not explain how the Government will stop corridor care happening now.
It does not set a date for publishing data on how widespread it is.
It does not say who is accountable when patients are left waiting in corridors.
And it does not confirm that corridor care will not be treated as a normal part of NHS planning.

In other words, the Government agrees with us in principle but avoids committing to action in practice.

That’s why we’re asking you to write again.

Corridor care is not a future problem. It is happening right now, affecting patient safety and placing NHS staff in impossible positions. Until the Government is willing to be transparent and accountable, we will keep pressing.

If corridor care is truly “not acceptable”, then silence and delay are not acceptable either.

Please send your letter today and help us keep the pressure on.

With thanks,

EveryDoctor

Name *

Your email *

Postcode *

Subject

<div><p dir="ltr">Dear Minister,</p><p dir="ltr">Thank you for your response regarding EveryDoctor’s corridor care campaign. I welcome your clear statement that corridor care is “not acceptable and should not be considered standard”. </p><p dir="ltr">However, your reply does not address the central concern raised by NHS staff and patients: that corridor care is already widespread, is causing harm, and is increasingly being treated as an unavoidable feature of the system rather than a patient safety failure that demands urgent action.</p><p dir="ltr">You refer to future plans, forthcoming standards, and data that will be published “shortly”. Yet corridor care is occurring now. Patients are waiting on trolleys and chairs for hours or days, dignity is compromised, and staff are being asked to deliver care in conditions they know are unsafe.</p><p dir="ltr">If corridor care is truly not acceptable, I would therefore welcome clarity on the following points:</p><ul><li dir="ltr">When will the Government publish corridor care prevalence data, and will it be reported transparently at Trust level?</li><li dir="ltr">What immediate action is taken when corridor care occurs, and who is accountable for preventing its recurrence?</li><li dir="ltr">Will the Government confirm that corridor care must not be used as a planning assumption by NHS Trusts?</li><li dir="ltr">What protections are in place for staff who raise concerns about unsafe corridor care conditions?</li></ul><p dir="ltr">Investment plans, long-term reform and shifts to community care are important. But they do not remove the Government’s responsibility to act decisively on a known patient safety risk today.</p><p dir="ltr">I urge you to provide clear timescales, accountability and immediate safeguards to ensure corridor care is not allowed to become normalised within the NHS.</p><strong id="docs-internal-guid-2c964671-7fff-a2ae-8e54-d94733b7126b"></strong></div><div><strong id="docs-internal-guid-b97194e2-7fff-a3d7-1b98-0f8f6c73c0a8"></strong></div>

To show you're an actual person, what is 5 - 1 ? *

If you would like us to keep in touch with you regarding EveryDoctor's campaign work please just tick this box.

Data will be processed by Organic Campaigns: Privacy policy. Acknowledgements