20pc of A&E patients now treated in a corridor or waiting room

20pc of A&E patients now treated in a corridor or waiting room View Image

Almost one in five patients in UK emergency departments are being cared for in corridors and waiting rooms at any one time, a study suggests. Experts said the findings show that the “shameful practice of corridor care is endemic”.

The study, carried out by Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s (RCEM) Trainee Emergency Research Network (Tern), analysed five snapshots taken from 165 A&E departments in March 2025. It found 17.7% of patients, or more than 10,000 people, were receiving care in “escalation areas”, which were classed as any area not routinely used for care unless capacity in the emergency department is exceeded.

This included corridors, waiting rooms, doubled-up cubicles and ambulances waiting outsid