NHS ‘corridor care’ A&E crisis laid bare in revealing new figures
Inside A&E at the height of the NHS winter crisis
New NHS data reveals that over 2,200 patients daily received ‘corridor care’ in A&E departments in May, with an additional 669 patients cared for in similar settings elsewhere in hospitals.
This marks the first time the NHS has published figures on ‘corridor care’, defined as patients spending 45 minutes or more in clinically inappropriate areas like hallways or waiting rooms.
The NHS aims to eliminate the practice of treating patients in corridors, following reports of patient deaths, diabetic patients left without food, and others enduring poor conditions.
May was the busiest month on record for A&E departments, with 2,457,398 attendances, surpassing the previous record set in March.
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has increased for the first time in six months, reaching an estimated 7.22 million treatments by the end of April.
