Shropshire patients treated in corridors 24 times a day, shocking NHS data reveals.

Shropshire patients were treated in corridors an average of 24 times a day last month, according to NHS data exposing the scale of the crisis in A&E.

The new monthly figures highlight how corridor care has become routine in hospitals, including in The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust.

Reacting angrily to the data, North Shropshire MP, Helen Morgan, said continued corridor care represented “ministerial negligence” and said urgent action was needed.

On some of the worst days last month, Trust staff were forced to provide care in corridors more than 40 times in 24hours, highlighting the intense pressure facing local NHS services.

Helen has long campaigned for drastic improvements to A&E wait times, with Shropshire among the worst in the country.

She said: “This is a damning final scorecard for Wes Streeting. Corridor care shames the NHS, and represents serious, continual negligence by ministers.

“Their failure to do anything about social care means our hospitals are full of people desperate to leave, while A&E waiting rooms groan with people waiting to be seen.

“It’s a disaster for the country that Labour has fallen to infighting once again while patients die on hospital trolleys. That’s why the Liberal Democrats will be pushing votes in Parliament to force listless and distracted Labour ministers into finally taking action.”

Although challenges remain in A&E, Helen recently visited the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to see new facilities, which she said were “already making a real difference” in faster diagnosis and treatment and said it was clear that staff were working hard to make improvements.

The data released on Thursday (11th June) forms part of a national picture showing thousands of patients being treated in inappropriate spaces. On average, 669 inpatients every day across England were receiving care in corridors after being admitted to hospital.

Corridor care is defined as patients receiving treatment, waiting for assessment, admission or transfer in a space where a patient isn’t in a clinically appropriate and safe setting; where privacy and dignity can’t be maintained including access to food, water and toilets; nor a space where a patient could sleep.

The Liberal Democrats have warned that the emergence of ‘corridor care wards’ shows the practice is becoming normalised.

The party is calling for a £1.5 billion plan to end 12-hour A&E waits within a year and tackle the scandal of corridor care. Their proposals include creating around 6,000 additional hospital beds through expanded capacity, improved step-down care and the introduction of ‘safety net’ social care beds for those awaiting long-term support.

They are also pushing for patients to have a legal right to be admitted to A&E within 12 hours, placing a statutory duty on ministers to deliver the standard.