Corridor care and long waits: what are people experiencing in A&E?
There were more than 2.3 million A&E visits during December 2025, with more than 400,000 people admitted to hospital. Resident doctors were also on strike for five days in December, putting hospitals under even greater pressure than usual.
Of those admitted to hospital as emergencies, one in four people waited over four hours between admission and staff finding them a bed. One in ten waited over 12 hours.
To understand people’s winter A&E experiences, we reviewed our feedback on urgent and emergency care from December 2025, focusing on older people. Older and/or frail patients are at greater risk of harm under corridor care, including falls, dehydration and delirium, according to a Health Services Safety Investigation Body report published last month.
In 2025, we joined nursing and other bodies in warning that many people were waiting for admission from A&E in intolerable conditions. We shared our ongoing concerns about “corridor care”, i.e. overstretched emergency departments having to put patients on chairs, trolleys or even floors in non-clinical areas and hospital thoroughfares.
A recent Age UK analysis also uncovered an exponential increase over the last six years in the number of over-65s waiting over 24 hours in A&E following a decision to admit them, with over 100,000 instances in 2024/2025 alone.
What did we learn about A&E care?
People faced long waits
Many people who shared their experiences had to wait and/or receive care in corridors or other temporary areas because beds were unavailable. Some were left there for over 24 hours.
“My Father waited for over 12 hours on a corridor…even though he was blue lighted to the emergency department with a suspected pulmonary embolism. He did not have any observations done until I asked why he was not being seen (8 hours +) and was eventually given a scan at least 10 hours after admission.”
Story shared with Healthwatch Northumberland
For some, waiting in A&E corridors proved too much to bear, and they self-discharged without treatment or admission. One person who waited with their elderly mother in a corridor overnight, and eventually self-discharged, said the experience left her traumatised.
“24 hour wait in A&E for a bed on a ward. Except it wasn’t a bed, it was a broken bed in a pitch-black corridor on a renal ward when I’m an emphysema patient in a wheelchair with osteoporosis. No buzzer and plug for a nebuliser. So, I discharged myself at 5am.”
Story shared with Healthwatch Essex
The experience had an emotional toll
People described a mix of emotions, including fear, anxiety and embarrassment at being left in corridors alone in suboptimal conditions.
“Staff were very good but spent 24hours in a corridor with no privacy, limited access to [a] toilet, leaving me to feel embarrassed, anxious and absolutely horrified to be left like this at nearly 82 years of age. Nobody should be so degraded whilst being so vulnerable and feeling so ill.”
Story shared with Healthwatch Kent
Waiting alongside very vulnerable patients, some of whom were suffering from mental health crises and/or drug and alcohol dependence, was especially difficult for older people. One person told us that the person next to them in the corridor had died while they were waiting.
“40 hours on a trolley in a corridor… No dignity using bedpan or receiving treatment. No refreshments. For a solo pensioner – very scary. Man died in [the] next trolley.”
Story shared with Healthwatch Havering
There was a lack of privacy and dignity
The lack of privacy while waiting or being treated in corridors led some to feel as though they had been stripped of their dignity.
The need for privacy was more crucial for those who had issues going to the toilet. We heard from people who struggled with their catheter bags and others who needed to use bedpans in full view of other people. One person described how his wife had to clean him after he had urinated while waiting.
“I was out of it [when] my wife found me 18 hrs after I arrived. I had wet myself due to [blood] sugar levels, in extreme pain, [and] didn’t know what was going on. My wife cleaned me with a screen around us in the corridor, gave me my meds, changed my clothes, she was furious as other staff were walking past all of the people in the corridor and did nothing to help”
Story shared with Healthwatch Suffolk
These experiences were similar to those we heard about inpatient corridor care, where people had been admitted to hospital but cared for in corridors or other areas (e.g. equipment cupboards). People spoke about a lack of privacy while using the toilet, having to share commodes, and not having anywhere to store their belongings.
“[The hospital] put my life at risk by keeping me in a nurses’ equipment cupboard for 3 days with no bathroom. I was in chemo, fighting sepsis and they had me sharing a commode with the corridor care patients who were mostly elderly and full of infections.”
Story shared with Healthwatch Wirral
People felt uncomfortable and unsafe
We heard reports from people who were left unattended and without proper pain management. One 96-year-old man was left on a trolley in the ambulance receiving area for 22 hours, resulting in bedsores. Another person said they were left sitting in a chair in a corridor for 15 hours, and left when they started feeling breathless, as they felt they would be better cared for at home.
“My 96-year-old father, who was acutely unwell with an infection and very high temperature, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He was on a trolley for 22 hours and in A&E for 3 days until a hospital bed could be found for him. He subsequently suffered from a hospital-acquired bed sore. When l visited him, the care he received when on the trolley in the ambulance receiving area was not just inadequate, it was dangerous.’”
Story shared with Healthwatch Shropshire
One of the most frequent complaints we heard was how uncomfortable people’s waits were – from long waits in uncomfortable seats to more serious cases of waiting in severe pain without pain relief.
For some older people, long, uncomfortable waits can be serious, especially if they can’t get up and about easily. Prolonged periods of sitting can lead to swelling and increase the risk of blood clots. We heard a report of one person who went to A&E with a suspected blood clot and sat for 17 hours waiting to be seen.
“…I was concerned I might have had a blood clot…I was triaged quite quickly and taken to a bay which I was sharing with 3 other people all just sitting on chairs. There were no doctors and I was told there would probably be a long wait. I was not examined at all by any medical member of staff or given a bed or trolley of any sort. I was very uncomfortable having only had the surgery a week previously but remained sitting on the seat for 17 hours before I was eventually examined by a doctor.”
Story shared with Healthwatch Cheshire East
The issue of corridor care is not only dangerous for older people. We also heard of a younger person left in a cubicle for 30 hours without regular observations and medication. More concerning was their mother’s report of poor infection control, including re-using cannulas, uncovered IV lines, and full commodes left for long periods.
Another common issue was a lack of refreshments (i.e. food and drink) offered to people waiting, including people with diabetes or who had been waiting for a long time. Some people said there were no vending machines available, leaving them with no access to food or drink while waiting.
Even where food was offered, in some instances there was a lack of dietary accommodations (e.g. vegan/vegetarian, lactose-free or gluten-free options).
“Roughly 12 hrs in A&E before getting a bed, broken hip... No drink or food offered whilst there, so 4.30pm until 8am next day with nothing ([I] am diabetic)”
Story shared with Healthwatch Enfield
What steps do we recommend?
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Prioritise dignity and safety in every setting, including corridors.
Hospitals must ensure they never compromise on the basics when treating people in non‑clinical spaces.
Too many people tell us they feel forgotten or stripped of dignity when left in corridors, particularly older people and those with complex needs. They must have clear communication about who is responsible for their care, access to privacy, timely observations, support with toileting, access to regular medications, and pain relief.
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Commit publicly to reducing corridor care and publish progress.
NHS Trust boards should state explicitly that corridor care is outside normal NHS standards and set out how they will reduce and ultimately eliminate it. People want transparency about where care is falling short and what is being done to put things right. Making Trust‑level data on corridor care public could help rebuild public confidence in A&E services, which we know has continued to decline.
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Improve communication and real‑time updates for people facing long waits.
People repeatedly tell us they can cope better with long waits when they understand what is happening and why.
Trusts should ensure that everyone receives regular updates about delays, expected timelines, and what to do if their condition worsens. This is particularly important during periods of severe pressure, when the risk of people being “lost in the system” increases.
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Protect those at highest risk by acting early and avoiding corridor placement wherever possible.
Some groups, such as older people, people with dementia or learning disabilities, people experiencing a mental health crisis, and those at the end of life, face significantly higher harm when cared for in corridors.
Trusts and Integrated Care Boards should have clear escalation triggers and alternatives to ensure these groups receive appropriate, safe care without delay. Services must ensure that people do not endure long periods without checks and support if they don’t have friends or family available to wait with them and advocate on their behalf.
The issues we set out in this article affect lots of the people we hear from, including Shelley, who waited 26 hours in A&E to get treatment for pneumonia and kindly spoke to us in more detail about her experience.
