Emergency medicine
Calls to tackle corridor care
Age UK has called on ministers to set a date to end corridor care, associated with long A&E waits, and produce a plan to achieve it. A recent survey, by the charity, reveals the impact of the problem.
A recent survey of Age UK supporters revealed that a third of people said they would be less likely to go to hospital because of the Corridor Care crisis, and 53% said that they would feel more anxious if they found themselves there.1-4 In response to the crisis, Age UK has launched
‘The Longest Wait - Our A&E Crisis Demands an Emergency Response ’, a new report which lays bare the devastating impact that ‘Corridor Care’ and long A&E waits can have on older people. The Charity says that it’s a crisis hiding in plain sight in our hospitals and that Ministers need to act urgently to tackle it. While long waits and corridor care in overly
busy A&E departments happen to people of all ages, they are particularly likely to happen to older people, especially the oldest, including some who are extremely ill or even dying. The new report shows that:
l 1 in 3 (one third or 32%) of those aged 90 and older are waiting 12 hours or more in A&E to be admitted or discharged home in 2024/25.5
l The number of instances of ‘corridor care’ of 12 hours or more has increased 525-fold since 2015/16.6
l Between 2019/20 and 2024/25 the number of
attendances to A&E that resulted in a 12-hour wait for a bed increased by nearly 2000%.7
l Last year, 532,451 people experienced corridor care of 12 hours or more.8
Age UK heard heartbreaking stories from older people who have had to face treatment, tests, and life-changing news without privacy and in unsafe conditions. Some told the charity they have suffered the indignity of having to use bedpans in corridors, or of lying on the floor because the chair provided was too uncomfortable. Tragically, some older people died before making it to a ward. One 86-year-old Age UK heard from was left in a disused corridor for 36 hours and others reported waiting in the corridor for well over 12 hours, sometimes even multiple days. Some reported seeing or hearing people dying in the corridor next to them as they waited. Many more spoke of a lack of facilities in the hospital, with others saying they had caught other illnesses or developed further health problems while they waited. For these older people the fear of going back to A&E can be very real. A recent Age UK survey
Key facts
l 1 in 3 (one third or 32%) of those aged 90 and older waited for 12 hours or more in A&E to be admitted or discharged home in 2024/25.1
l The number of instances of ‘corridor care’ of 12 hours or more has increased 525-fold since 2015/16.2
l 1.15 million people aged 60 and over waited 12 hours or more in A&E to be admitted or discharged home in 2024/25.3
revealed that a third of Age UK supporters said they would be less likely to go to hospital because of the corridor care crisis, and 53% said that they would feel more anxious if they found themselves there.9 Recent polling of UK people aged 65+ by Age
UK revealed that: l 89%, equivalent to 11.7 million older people, agreed that corridor care is undignified and unsafe, particularly for older people.
l 79%, equivalent to 10.4 million older people, agreed that patients should never be cared for in corridors under any circumstances.10
Other harrowing comments received, said: l “My very ill late husband, with a drip attached, was put in a chair, in a room with some dreadful people ([the] police had to be called at one time). He was desperate to go to the loo and there was no one to take him. He was left with excrement in his pants and was left in this state for over 20 hours. How dreadful he felt - no modesty.”
l “My friend’s mother was left waiting ages when she was having a heart attack and died before receiving any care.”
l “Some people - many elderly - had been there for many hours. Absolutely no dignity. There were puddles of urine on the floor, which meant those poor people were lying in a wet bed.”
l “I was taken by an ambulance to hospital with 30
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I January 2026
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