Boards urged to ‘take ownership’ to avoid corridor care

Trust boards can “virtually eliminate” corridor care with “the right leadership ambition and focus”, including more walking wards and corridors, NHS England has said.

National leaders held a meeting last week with execs from the 30 trusts with the biggest corridor care problem. 

In a letter to all trusts CEOs and chairs today, NHSE said those at the meeting had agreed that a concerted approach, and several actions in particular, could allow the practice to be largely wiped out.

This includes boards taking “formal ownership” of corridor care as an organisational risk, requiring approval by executive directors, reporting it as an “incident”, and discussing it at each board meeting. NHSE plans to revise its escalation and reporting rules accordingly. 

NHSE’s letter stressed that “the right leadership ambition and focus” could avoid the practice, which has risen steeply in the past two years, as hospitals have been pressured to off-load ambulances more quickly even when they are very busy. Twelve-hour A&E waits hit a record high in January.

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Source: HSJ, 4 March 2026

Related reading on the hub:

• Corridor care guidance needs to move beyond what “should” happen and grapple honestly with why it isn’t
• A silent safety scandal: A nurse’s first-hand account of a corridor nursing shift
• The crisis of corridor care in the NHS: patient safety concerns and incident reporting