One in five patients treated in corridors and cupboards – study

Corridor care is “endemic” in the UK, doctors have said, as a major study found one in five patients were treated in hallways, offices and cupboards.

- Andrew Gregory Health editor

Millions of patients are enduring undignified and unsafe care, with almost every A&E department in the country deploying this approach routinely, contravening national guidance, research has revealed.

Amid mass overcrowding and long delays for treatment in hospitals, short-term use of temporary escalation area care has been reported to be widespread. But until now there was no high-quality evidence on its prevalence.

The study, by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine's (RCEM) trainee emergency research network, analysed five snapshots taken from 165 A&E departments in March.

It found 17.7% of patients were receiving care in “escalation areas”, classed as anywhere not routinely used for care unless capacity in emergency departments is breached.