‘Ending corridor care must improve care, not simply change where patients wait’ – SAM president-elect (30 July)

Commenting on analysis published today (30 July) by the Nuffield Trust which shows that patients over 80 are worst affected by very long waits in emergency care, Dr Ragit Varia, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, said:

“The Nuffield Trust’s analysis provides further evidence that prolonged waits for hospital admission have become normalised across the NHS, with older patients particularly badly affected. In 2025, 43% of admitted patients aged over 80 waited more than 12 hours from arrival in A&E to admission, compared with 19% of those aged 21 to 30. These are often frail and seriously unwell patients who need timely care in an appropriate clinical environment.

“The report is right to recognise that this is fundamentally a patient-flow problem, not simply an emergency department problem. Long waits reflect pressures across hospitals and the wider health and care system, including insufficient staffed beds, delayed discharge and limited community and social care capacity.

“The commitment to eliminate corridor care is essential, but success must be judged by whether patients receive safer, more timely and more dignified care – not simply by where they wait. Moving patients from corridors into overcrowded waiting rooms, temporary escalation areas or other unsuitable spaces does not remove the underlying risks.

“We must also avoid the gamification of care, where organisations improve a metric without improving patient experience. Patient flow is not about moving people around a hospital; it is about progressing their care towards the right diagnosis, treatment or destination.

“Sustainable improvement will require investment in community health and social care, but there is also significant scope to improve how patients move through hospital. Proven models such as acute medicine and Same Day Emergency Care must be supported by sufficient workforce, timely diagnostics, multidisciplinary working and effective discharge coordination.

“SAM stands ready to work with NHS England, government and clinical partners to ensure efforts to eliminate corridor care deliver genuine improvements for patients rather than simply moving overcrowding elsewhere.”