An Age UK survey finds that the number of instances of corridor care of 12 hours or more has increased 525-fold since 2015.
The problem of corridor care does not seem to be alleviating. A third (32%) of those aged 90 and older have waited 12 hours or more in A&E to be admitted or discharged home over the past year, and the number of instances of corridor care of 12 hours or more has increased 525-fold since 2015.
A report from Age UK says that while long waits and corridor care in overly busy A&E departments can happen to people of all ages, they are particularly likely to happen to older people, especially the oldest old, including some who are extremely ill or even dying.
Caroline Abrahams, director of the charity, calls it a “crisis hiding in plain sight”.
“No one should have to spend their final days in a hospital corridor where it’s impossible for the staff to provide good, compassionate care, and it’s truly shocking that this is what is happening to some very old people in some hospitals, today and every day. And as we head into winter, we fear that an already very difficult situation in and around some A&Es will get even worse,” she continued.
It is a problem that Healthcare Today has frequently highlighted. Most recently, a snapshot survey from the Royal College of Physicians found that nearly three in five doctors reported they had delivered care in a temporary care environment between June and August 2025, including in corridors, gyms, offices, and even cupboards. And of those who reported providing care in a temporary environment over the summer months, 45% said they had done so daily or almost daily.
Beyond shameful
Corridor care is closely linked to long waits in A&E. It refers to the practice of providing care to patients in hospital corridors or other non-designated areas and inappropriate care settings.
The problem usually stems in large part from the hospital’s inability to process people quickly once they’re through the door. On any given day, there are 13,000 people medically fit for discharge stuck in hospitals, the Age UK survey says, almost all of them older than 65.
These delayed discharges can happen for a number of different reasons, and the report makes clear that the following areas need to be addressed to speed up the flow in hospitals: poor organisation and co-ordination of functions and activities within the hospital; a lack of social care and other forms of support in the community; and delays in accessing community health services such as district nurses and occupational therapists.
The response to the report has been damning. “The situation is beyond shameful. I know that at times I, and many of my colleagues, can find it difficult just to walk through our departments because of what we see there,” said Ian Higginson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
