Hospitals: Standards

NHS England introduced a national definition of corridor care and began publishing validated corridor care data for the first time on 11 June 2026. Prior to this, there was no nationally validated dataset that would allow trends in corridor care to be consistently assessed across the National Health Service. The Department has therefore not made a formal assessment of trends in corridor care since July 2024.

The Government supports NHS England's introduction of a national definition, which improves transparency, enables more consistent reporting across NHS organisations, and supports targeted improvement activity where pressures are greatest. The published corridor care statistics are designated as Statistics in Development, recognising that, as with any new official statistical publication, data quality and completeness will continue to improve over time.

The Government and NHS England are clear that corridor care is unacceptable and should not become a normal part of NHS care. Corridor care is one of the clearest symptoms of pressure across urgent and emergency care services and is closely associated with poor patient flow, delayed discharge, constrained hospital capacity, and longer accident and emergency waits.

To address these pressures, NHS England has established targeted improvement support for trusts experiencing the highest levels of corridor care, with expert Getting It Right First Time teams working with local NHS leaders to improve patient flow, strengthen discharge arrangements, and reduce overcrowding. This is supported by delivery of the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, publication of the Model Emergency Department and Model Acute Pathway, and up to £1.9 billion of capital investment between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to expand urgent and emergency care capacity and improve patient flow.