'Today marks an important step': RCP welcomes publication of first national corridor care data

Professor Mumtaz Patel, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: 

'We welcome the publication of this corridor care data, following campaigning from the RCP and others who have been calling for national figures to be published all year round.  

‘Our member surveys throughout 2025 showed that corridor care is a year-round reality. We know that patients are being assessed in spaces not designed for clinical care, without adequate privacy or the equipment needed. This data will not solve corridor care, but it marks an important step in trying to understand the scale of the problem.  

‘We will now study the figures carefully and will have more to say about what they tell us. It is essential that we guard against any loopholes or gaming of the data – including attempts to circumvent the 45-minute standard. Ensuring the data reflect reality is critical to these figures helping us to know whether the picture is improving, whether interventions are working and where more needs to be done.  

‘Today’s publication is the beginning, not the end. The RCP will continue to campaign for government and the NHS to act on the long term, structural issues causing corridor care so we can eliminate this unsafe, undignified practice. We need to strengthen social care capacity and tackle the things that make people sick in the first place. These are what drive avoidable admissions and put avoidable pressure on wards.’