Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that commitments to end corridor care are supported by sufficient NHS bed capacity, safe staffing levels, ambulance handover improvements, social care capacity and community health services.

We recognise that corridor care is unacceptable and should not become a normal part of National Health Service care. It reflects pressure across the whole urgent and emergency care pathway, including in hospitals and across wider health and care services. As part of delivering the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/2026, the Government and NHS England have provided over £450 million of capital investment to expand urgent and emergency care capacity, and we introduced a maximum 45-minute standard to tackle unacceptable ambulance handover delays. We have also published new national clinical standards, including Model Emergency Department, The Model Acute Pathway, and the Model Discharge Pathway, supporting more consistent, high‑quality care and improved flow through hospitals.

The Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a clear three-year trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the waiting time standards set out in the NHS Constitution, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. This is backed by a further £1.9 billion of capital investment between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to support improvements to emergency departments, Same Day Emergency Care, urgent treatment centres, ambulance infrastructure, and additional bed capacity where appropriate.

We are also expanding neighbourhood health services and virtual wards to support more patients to receive care closer to home where clinically appropriate. Additionally, in February 2026, the Government published guidance setting out new arrangements for the Better Care Fund, requiring NHS integrated care boards and local authorities to pool over £9 billion of funding to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and reduce delayed hospital discharges with more integrated health and social care services.

The Government has already made progress in increasing the number of frontline staff, improving working conditions, and making the NHS a rewarding and fulfilling place to work. However, we must go further. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will help ensure the NHS has the skilled workforce needed to deliver high-quality care for patients.