“Corridor care” the new normal say Liberal Democrats as more than half a million people faced record waits in A&E

A staggering 518,213 people across England waited 12 hours or more to be seen in A&E in 2024, new researched commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The record-breaking figures follow news that one NHS hospital has advertised for “corridor care” nurses to care for patients waiting for a bed.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “Frontline NHS services are now spiralling out of control.  It is beyond dangerous.

“In Oldham our NHS facilities are crumbling and the repair bill is climbing.  Ambulance wait times are soaring and people can’t get a GP appointment.  These figures should be a national scandal, but they won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has had to visit hospital lately.”

In 2024, 518,213 waited 12 hours or more to be seen in A&E.  A drastic 25% increase on 2023, when the figure was 415,000.

Councillor Sykes said, “This government appears to be asleep at the wheel.  They don’t seem to have a plan.

“We need an urgent expansion of the number of hospital beds to get back to safe levels and a pandemic-style emergency recruitment campaign to bring staff out of retirement and back into the workforce.”