Overview
- RCEM’s TERN study across 165 emergency departments recorded five snapshots in March 2025, finding 17.7% of more than 10,000 patients in non‑standard escalation spaces.
- Patients were treated in corridors, waiting rooms, doubled-up cubicles, offices, cupboards and queued ambulances, contrary to national guidance that says such use is unacceptable.
- Children and people presenting with mental health needs were among those treated in these areas, with researchers and RCEM leaders warning of undignified and unsafe care.
- Clinicians cite heightened risks from long waits, including RCEM’s estimate of one excess death for every 72 patients waiting 8–12 hours, and some sites reported no immediate resuscitation cubicle capacity.
- The Department of Health will publish corridor waiting figures for the first time, the health secretary has vowed to end corridor care by the next general election, and doctors caution that winter could bring gridlock without added capacity and flow.