New report reveals North East hospital patients are dying in corridors
The Royal College of Nursing has published new findings
Last updated 1st May 2025
We are hearing patients are dying in hospital corridors with no privacy or dignity and going undiscovered for hours across the North East and Teesside.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) published new findings as part of a damning report, saying people are also going undiscovered for hours.
A survey of NHS nursing staff shows the scale of the corridor care crisis in hospitals, with almost seven in ten (66.81%) saying they are delivering care in over-crowded or unsuitable places - like corridors, converted cupboards and even car parks - on a daily basis.
The RCN says experiences of over 5,000 nursing staff across the UK highlight a devastating collapse in care standards, with patients routinely coming to harm. They also say the testimony, which runs to over 400 pages, must mark a ‘moment in time’.
The RCN adds that demoralised nursing staff report caring for as many as 40 patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors, suction and other lifesaving equipment. They report female patients miscarrying in corridors, whilst others say they cannot provide adequate or timely CPR to patients having heart attacks.
More than nine in ten (90.82%) of those surveyed say patient safety is being compromised.
A nurse in the North East of England described two dying patients being crammed in next to one another, with no privacy for their families, “like watching a horrid film that I can’t stop.”
Some testimonies from nurses:
"Cared for patients in the corridor and it was inappropriate as patient needed ECG. Dignity and privacy doesn’t exist when you on a trolley in the corridor getting treated."
"I feel embarrassed, exhausted and fearful that making the wrong decision will put my patients at risk. I have often thought of leaving nursing, this is no longer the profession I proudly joined."
"It feels horrible, disappointing when we care a patient in corridor, most shocking thing is it’s no more a temporary escalation space, rather treated and used regular 24/7. We are asked to receive patient anywhere and wherever if the space fits a trolley. IT BREAKS MY HEART EVERYTIME WHEN WE DO THAT." (sic)
"This happens daily in the ED. It helps to get ambulances back out but has zero dignity for patients."
"I am a Palliative Care CNS, end of life care is a daily experience. Within our hospital we have four bedded bays and a small number of single rooms (usually occupied due to infection control). For the past few months an extra bed has been placed in the middle of bays, this space has no access to a call system or any of the usual bed area facilities, more over there are no screens or curtains. We are increasingly caring for very sick or dying patients in these bays, albeit not in the extra bed space. Nonetheless, dying patients are cared for in cramped conditions with no privacy, loved ones have to sit in these bays unable to truly greave or have private conversations. Also other patients in the bays are in touching distance to the next patient. Last week we had 2 patients dying at the same time in a four bedded bays and with an extra bed pushed in. No dignity no respect it’s heartbreaking"
More than one in four of the nursing staff surveyed by the RCN said they were not told that the corridor they were providing care in was classed as a ‘temporary escalation space’, as described by the NHS in England. This means that risk protocols and additional measures may not be in place to ease pressures and protect patients.
It follows a letter from a coalition including the RCN, BMA, Royal College of Physicians, Patients Association and Age UK which called on the Westminster Government and NHS England to publish how many patients are being cared for in corridors and all other inappropriate places.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said:
“This devastating testimony from frontline nursing staff shows patients are coming to harm every day, forced to endure unsafe treatment in corridors, toilets, and even rooms usually reserved for families to visit deceased relatives. Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital lifesaving equipment. We can now categorically say patients are dying in this situation.
“The revelations from our wards must now become a moment in time. A moment for bold government action on an NHS which has been neglected for so long. Ministers cannot shirk responsibility and need to recognise that recovering patient care will take new investment, including in building a strong nursing workforce.
“Health leaders must also commit to publishing the data on exactly how many patients are being cared for in these circumstances. The public deserves to know what is happening to patient safety.”
The Secretary of State for Health & Social Care - Wes Streeting - says "it'll take time to get back to the standards that patients deserve, but it can be done."