NHS Corridor Care Crisis Deepens as Staff Morale Collapses
Corridor care has become so entrenched in NHS hospitals that nursing staff are in danger of losing hope, according to stark new testimony gathered by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
The professional body has renewed calls for urgent, fully funded action plans to eliminate the practice, which it says requires investment in hospital beds, the nursing workforce, community services and social care provision.
Nurses have reported feeling ashamed, angry and embarrassed about the unsafe and undignified care they are being forced to deliver to patients due to capacity constraints.
The RCN believes corridor care is now extending beyond accident and emergency departments into acute assessment units, respiratory wards, surgical wards and elderly care facilities—more than 18 months after the organisation declared a national emergency on the issue.
A mental health nurse in Wales reported that corridor care has become a regular occurrence, with staff forced to increase patient monitoring because unsecured corridors contain objects and fittings that present risks of self-harm and suicide.
New YouGov polling commissioned by the RCN reveals that as many as two in ten UK adults have witnessed NHS care being delivered in non-clinical spaces such as corridors within the last six months. Among those who actually accessed care during this period, the figure rises to more than one in three.
The research also suggests public impatience with the pace of reform, with seven in ten respondents in England believing Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s pledge to eradicate corridor care by the end of the current parliament is too slow.
In January 2026, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSSIB)—the patient safety investigation body for England—published a report highlighting the widespread and normalised nature of corridor care. The investigation found that some NHS trusts are reportedly installing permanent call bells and electrical sockets in corridors.
Despite Westminster government commitments to publish data on corridor care incidences in England from February 2025, this information has yet to materialise.
Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said the new testimony reveals once again the devastating human consequences of corridor care for patients forced to endure conditions that have no place in the NHS.
“The fact remains that there can be no safe, dignified care delivered in a corridor, store room or dining room, but that has become the norm,” she stated. “It’s taking a terrible toll on staff, but ministers mustn’t allow them to lose hope. Decisive action can restore care standards and stop staff morale collapsing past the point of no return.”
Professor Ranger urged ministers to publish promised data alongside a fully funded action plan and clear timeline for eradicating the practice.
The RCN is encouraging members experiencing corridor care situations to raise concerns through appropriate channels and has made support services available, including workplace inspection checklists specifically designed for health and safety representatives.
