Nurses warn corridor care is now a ‘year-round crisis’ in the NHS

Nursing leaders are demanding “urgent action” from ministers over a “corridor care crisis” – as a new survey found almost one in five staff are having to provide care in an “inappropriate setting” every day.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Scotland said a survey of its members found 19% were looking after patients in areas such as corridors, waiting rooms or cupboards on a daily basis.

A further 13% of the 515 staff surveyed said they were having to do this on a weekly basis – despite concerns about this impact this could have on both patient care and dignity.

Eileen McKenna, associate director of RCN Scotland, said: “The situation is completely unacceptable for patient safety and staff wellbeing and our members are worried about what the coming winter has in store.”

She added: “No patient should ever have to suffer the risk or indignity of being cared for in such a way.

“Despite Scottish Government’s commitment ‘to eliminate non-standard care areas’, RCN members are telling us that corridor care has been allowed to become normal practice and is now a year-round crisis.”

It was back in January of 2025 that the RCN originally declared what it branded as a “corridor care crisis” in hospitals across the UK, saying then that a “devastating collapse in care standards” with patients “routinely coming to harm”.

A follow-up survey from that was carried out by RCN Scotland between between June 26 and July 13 this year.

As well as its findings on “inappropriate care”, it revealed that some three out five nurses (61%) said there were not enough nursing staff to care for patients safely and effectively on their last shift.

Over two fifths (43%) of those who took part said there they were not able to take the breaks they are entitled to, with almost half (47%) stating that they felt they did not have enough time to provide the level of care they want.

Ms McKenna said that while First Minister John Swinney had pledged to deliver “solutions to alleviate the pressures and overcrowding” faced by the NHS, the improvement plan produced in March had “contained little that was new”.

The nursing leader added that this plan “also lacked the detail needed to assess whether or not it would solve the problems our health and care services are facing, including corridor care”.

However she said: “I see no end to this crisis in sight.”

As a result, Ms McKenna demanded “urgent action” from the Scottish Government, saying: “Ministers must be responsible for reporting publicly cold, hard data on exactly how many patients are being cared for in these circumstances, including the likely impact on patients and staff, along with the actions being taken to reduce and eradicate occurrences.”

She also called on the government to “commit to long-term action and investment focused on addressing the nursing workforce shortages” along with action to improve capacity across hospitals, community care and social care settings, to help “ease the pressure across the whole system”.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “We are investing £200 million to improve patient flow, enhance capacity and remove blockages keeping patients in hospital longer than necessary, we remain determined to avoid people being treated in inappropriate locations.

“I am encouraged to see an improvement in monthly A&E performance, with figures showing the lowest number of eight and 12 hour waits for any month since September 2023 – we are determined to drive improvements.

“To help shift the balance of care from acute to community we will deliver direct access to specialist frailty teams in every A&E and expand Hospital at Home to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026.”