A report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) reveals there is no longer a significant seasonal variation in corridor care.

The HSSIB outlines the safety issues when caring for patients in temporary spaces and the adaptations trusts are making to mitigate these risks.

These mitigations include:

• selecting patients suitable for care in a temporary environment and excluding those who require heart monitoring, people at high risk of a fall, children and patients with mental health needs
• physical adaptations to temporary care environments by installing plug sockets, emergency call bells, patient call bells and communication systems to support patient safety
• enhanced staff to patient ratios by bringing in bank and agency nursing staff, and having support from speciality doctors, allied health professionals, such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and mental health staff.

The report calls for a nationally agreed definition of temporary care environments and improved understanding of how and when temporary care environments are used in NHS hospitals.

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Daniel Elkeles, chief executive, NHS Providers, said: ‘We must end the need to use corridors or other temporary spaces. More beds may be the obvious answer but before saying this is the only solution we must make reality the desired shift to looking after more people in the community - at or close to home - and prevent as many hospital admissions as possible.  

‘We must be sure too that we manage as efficiently as we can the flow of patents inside our hospitals and between other parts of the NHS, as well as solving the problem of thousands of hospital beds taken up by people well enough to be discharged but who can't be - which means addressing social care capacity too.'

Rory Deighton, acute and community care director at the NHS Confederation, said: ‘Health leaders continue to work on the root causes of corridor care, trying to ensure flow through the system by improving patient discharge, working with local authorities to improve social care support and prioritising vulnerable older patients at the front door through increased frailty screening. But until the challenges in social care are tackled it is likely that the practice will unfortunately continue.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘No one should receive care in a corridor – the situation we inherited is unacceptable and undignified, and we are determined to end it. That is why NHS England is working closely with trusts to reduce variation, tackle inconsistencies, improve data collection and reduce discharge delays, alongside social care colleagues.

‘Staff are under immense pressure, and this report highlights the dedication and professionalism of those who are keeping patients safe and delivering the best care they can.

‘We know there is a long road ahead. This year we began preparing for winter earlier than ever before, delivering hundreds of thousands of extra vaccines to reduce pressure on hospitals, and investing £450m to expand urgent and emergency care, deploy 500 new ambulances and build 40 new mental health crisis centres so patients can get the care they need, when they need it.'

The DHSC said it had issued clear guidance to support faster, safer hospital discharge and was joining up NHS and social care through neighbourhood health teams so more people can get the care they need at home.