NHS: A&E Overcrowding and ‘Corridor Care’
NHS: Curbing A&E Overcrowding and ‘Corridor Care’
In a bold effort to ease pressure on overburdened emergency departments, NHS England will shift hundreds of thousands of urgent care patients away from A&E settings as part of a £450 million strategy aimed at reducing dangerous “corridor care” and averting another winter crisis.
The initiative, central to the government’s urgent and emergency care improvement plan, seeks to ease long waits, reduce hospital overcrowding, and ensure patients are treated in the most appropriate setting. With around one in five A&E attendances involving patients who do not require emergency treatment, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said it’s time for a more efficient system.
“Far too many patients end up in A&E because there’s nowhere else to go,” Streeting said. “If someone can’t get a GP appointment — which costs the NHS £40 — they often turn to A&E, which costs ten times that. It’s worse for the patient and worse for the taxpayer.”
Key measures in the plan include:
40 new same-day emergency care units and urgent treatment centres to treat and discharge patients without overnight hospital stays.
15 new mental health crisis assessment centres, designed to divert people with psychiatric needs away from emergency departments.
Increased use of paramedics and community response teams to treat more people in their homes or at the scene.
Expansion of “hospital at home” virtual wards, enabling some patients to be monitored remotely rather than admitted.
However, a previous pledge to eliminate corridor care entirely has been dropped from the final plan, drawing criticism from campaigners.
Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England chief executive, said the plan will “resuscitate” urgent and emergency care, adding: “It’s about getting patients out of corridors, freeing up ambulances, and supporting timely hospital discharge.”
Emergency care demand has surged, with daily attendances now averaging 141,000 — nearly double the figure from 2010–11. Ambulance call-outs have also spiked by 61% over the same period.
The Department of Health and Social Care expects the reforms to significantly improve conditions by next winter. Still, concerns remain.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, welcomed the commitment to greater transparency in A&E performance data but expressed disappointment over the lack of a firm promise to end 12-hour emergency department waits.
Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan cautiously welcomed the plans but warned that delays in fixing the wider social care system could stall progress. “The misery in our A&Es will only be prolonged if they continue to move at a snail’s pace on social care,” she said.
Ministers have commissioned a review of adult social care led by Louise Casey — but the findings are not expected until 2028, prompting fears of continued strain in the interim.