As part of the Corridor Care Coalition, we have previously welcomed the government’s commitment to ending corridor care. However, we are concerned that the Secretary of State for Health’s commitments made on the BBC on Sunday will result in a disproportionate focus on younger people that will ultimately lead to a failure to sufficiently address what is a problem across all age groups. Children thankfully make up a very small percentage of those treated in corridors, whereas older people account for the majority affected by harmful waits in these inappropriate settings.
Directly comparable data is not readily available due to differences in how data is recorded and reported for adults and children. However, 66% of people waiting 12 hours or more in A&E are aged over 60, with under-18s representing only 5%. The Secretary of State stated that corridor care data has not previously been measured by age, but she has asked for the figures for children. We hope data on all age groups will be published as a result of this commitment.
While no one would dispute that children being treated in corridors is horrific and absolutely should not be allowed to happen, the reality of the corridor care crisis is that the significant majority of people affected are older people living with frailty, dementia and other long-term conditions. No one- adult or child - should be treated in a corridor. The systemic issues, most of which relate more to older people’s care than to children’s, must be addressed to end corridor care for everyone.
We have recently sent an urgent joint letter to the Health Secretary demanding action on corridor care, along with 15 other organisations including Age UK and the Royal College of Nursing. Together, we must hold the government to account on this issue to ensure health services everywhere end the harmful practice of corridor care for everyone.
