NHS hospitals are installing plug sockets and call bells in corridors to care for patients, an investigation has found.
Senior staff told the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) that they made the investment as they ‘could not avoid using these spaces’.
A report by the health and safety watchdog called for a ‘nationally agreed definition’ of so-called temporary care environments, such as corridors, offices and storerooms, along with a better understanding of how and when they are used in the NHS.
For the probe, the HSSIB visited 13 hospitals between August and December 2025 and included input from a further four hospitals.
It said in all observed cases, corridor care was regularly used. Some hospitals had installed emergency call bells, plug sockets, patient call bells and communication systems in temporary care spaces.
Some senior hospital staff said they did not want to make the changes as they ‘did not want to normalise’ corridor care.
Patients being treated in hospital corridors has become increasingly common due to a lack of available beds (file photo)
But others said they adapted the spaces because they ‘could not avoid’ using them.
Safety risks highlighted in the report included difficulty monitoring patients and recognising those who were deteriorating, increased risk of infection, a lack of piped oxygen and insufficient staff levels.
Saskia Fursland, senior safety investigator at the HSSIB, said: ‘Until there is a solution to the complex underlying issues related to patient flow, we must recognise that hospitals may have no choice but to use temporary care environments.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘No one should receive care in a corridor. NHS England is working closely with trusts to reduce variation, tackle inconsistencies, improve data collection and reduce discharge delays, alongside social care colleagues.’
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Caring for patients in corridors is so ‘normal’ NHS hospitals are installing plug sockets and call bells in them, investigation reveals