Rise in hospital ‘corridor care’ is national emergency, union warns

Royal College of Nursing says overcrowding is forcing practice that puts patients at serious risk

Overcrowding is forcing hospitals to treat so many patients in corridors and storerooms that it constitutes a national emergency", the UK's nursing union has said.

The growing and widespread practice is endangering patients' safety by leaving them without oxygen or easily able to attract staff's attention, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned.