Overview
- The RCEM trainee network’s snapshot across 165 of 228 type‑1 emergency departments in March 2025 recorded 10,042 of 56,881 patients (about 18%) in escalation areas such as corridors, waiting rooms, doubled‑up cubicles and queuing ambulances.
- Researchers say escalation‑area care is now routine across most departments despite national guidance that deems it unacceptable.
- Pressure was linked primarily to exit block and inpatient bed shortages rather than arrivals, with the highest proportions reported in Northern Ireland and the lowest in Southwest England.
- Safety concerns included a lack of immediate resuscitation‑cubicle capacity at 10.5–26% of sites and evidence that prolonged waits are associated with excess deaths, with children and patients in mental‑health crisis among those treated in overflow areas.
- The Department of Health and Social Care called corridor care unacceptable and said it will publish corridor‑waiting data, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting pledged to end the practice by the next general election.