£215m funding to end undignified treatment of patients in hospital hallways

Hospitals across the West Midlands are set to benefit directly from a major government drive to eradicate corridor care.

NHS England is deploying specialist teams to the worst-affected trusts and is earmarking funding for several new urgent treatment centres in the region.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust will receive three new urgent treatment centres, at Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Good Hope hospitals.

Leicester Royal Infirmary and The Royal Stoke University Hospital are also among the 40 new and expanded urgent care sites announced nationwide, backed by £215.5 million.

Expert teams sent in

The Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is providing hands-on support to struggling hospitals, helping leaders improve patient discharge, manage surges in demand, and reduce dangerous bottlenecks.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the situation was no longer acceptable: “For too long, the normalisation of corridor care has been baked into our NHS. It’s unacceptable, undignified and exactly why this government is shifting the dial for patients and staff.”

Early results elsewhere are encouraging. Hull reduced ambulance handover delays by 27% and cut 12-hour waits by 47%, while Blackpool achieved a 43% reduction in 12-hour waits.

Progress

Professor Tim Briggs, Chair of the GIRFT programme, said: “We’re seeing some good early evidence of reductions in corridor care for patients.”

Healthwatch England’s Acting Chief Executive Chris McCann welcomed the measures but struck a cautionary note, adding: “Even one case of corridor care is one too many.”

Regular data on corridor care cases in every hospital will be published from May.