One in 10 patients spent over 12 hours in A&E in 2025
A BBC investigation has found that one in ten patients at major A&E units in England waited more than 12 hours last year. In 2025, around 1.75 million people faced these long waits to be seen, sent home, or moved to a hospital bed.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned that "corridor care"—where patients are treated in hallways due to a lack of space—is becoming a major crisis. Nurses shared upsetting stories of elderly patients being left in corridors for days and others having to undergo private medical procedures behind sheets held up by staff. One nurse even claimed that animals at a vet's surgery are often treated with more dignity than some hospital patients.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted the NHS is currently "falling short" and said that treating patients in corridors should never be seen as normal. He has promised to end the practice by the end of this parliament and plans to start publishing official data on corridor waits to be more open with the public. However, he noted that some areas, like ambulance response times and the general waiting list for surgeries, are starting to show slight improvements.
At Leicester Royal Infirmary, staff described the "relentless pressure" of trying to care for very ill people in makeshift settings. They reported seeing elderly patients sitting in plastic chairs for up to nine hours because no beds were available. While the total number of people waiting for planned operations has dropped to its lowest level since 2023, the pressure on emergency departments remains a significant challenge for the government.
