Conservatives say ministers must be held to account as health chief confirms figures are not routinely available

CONSERVATIVE MS Andrew RT Davies has demanded Senedd ministers begin collecting and publishing data on “corridor care” in Welsh hospitals, after the Welsh Government confirmed it is not currently able to provide routine figures.

Mr Davies raised the issue in the Senedd during questions to Health Minister Jeremy Miles, asking whether information is being gathered on patients being cared for in corridors and, if so, how many people are affected.

Mr Miles told MSs the data is not currently available in a form that can be published routinely, but said the Welsh Government is “trialling approaches” which would put ministers in a position to provide regular publication.

The exchange comes amid ongoing concern across Wales about severe pressure in emergency departments and delays in moving patients into appropriate ward beds — a situation that can result in people waiting for treatment, assessment or admission in areas not designed for patient care.

The term “corridor care” is widely used to describe circumstances where patients receive care in inappropriate settings, often due to a lack of capacity elsewhere. Health bodies and staff representatives have warned that such conditions can affect privacy and dignity, make infection control harder, and place additional strain on staff working in already pressured environments.

Mr Davies said he had been contacted by constituents in the Vale of Glamorgan reporting what he described as unacceptable experiences in local hospitals, adding that frontline NHS staff should not be blamed.

He also linked the issue to wider spending priorities at the Senedd, claiming that services were under strain while ministers pursued other policies, including plans to expand the size of the Senedd and maintain a “Nation of Sanctuary” approach to asylum seekers.

Mr Davies said it was vital that corridor care data was collected and published so that the scale of the problem could be measured and ministers held to account.

Mr Davies said: “I’m frequently contacted by Vale constituents reporting unacceptable experiences in local hospitals.

“This is not the fault of NHS staff – but hospitals are underfunded thanks to resources instead going towards Plaid Cymru separatist and Labour plans for 36 more Senedd members and a Nation of Sanctuary for asylum seekers.

“We must end corridor care – and it’s vital this data is made available to hold Senedd ministers to account.”

In response, the Welsh Government position is that it is working on ways to standardise and publish information on corridor care, but that the data is not yet routinely available across the system.

Opposition parties and health campaigners have argued that without clear national reporting, it is harder for the public and Senedd members to understand how widespread the issue is, whether it is improving, and which hospitals are under the greatest pressure.

The Welsh Government has not yet set out when routine publication will begin, but ministers say the trial work is intended to enable regular reporting in future.

Controls against list inflation appear effective, but some duplicates and deceased records remained

GP practice patient lists in Wales are in “good health overall”, with no immediate evidence of fraud found in a new data-matching exercise carried out with NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP), according to Audit Wales.

The pilot focused on two areas that can affect the accuracy of practice lists and, by extension, the way practices are funded: duplicate patient registrations and deceased individuals not being removed in a timely manner.

Audit Wales said the payment system for GP practices is complex, but patient numbers sit at the heart of it — creating an inherent risk that inflated lists could lead to incorrect payments. Accurate lists also support wider primary care management, including ensuring patients receive timely invitations for services such as screening and preventing people who should not be registered from blocking appointment invitations.

While auditors found no immediate evidence of fraud in the areas examined, a small number of errors were identified.

The exercise found 140 duplicate registrations to date, with a further 395 potential matches still under investigation. It also identified 15 cases where deceased individuals remained on GP patient lists, with some left on the lists for a significant period.

Audit Wales said these issues meant some GP funding had been allocated inaccurately, but the amount involved was low.

The findings suggest patient list inflation controls are generally sound in the areas covered by the pilot, though NWSSP is working to strengthen its central controls. Audit Wales also noted recent wider IT system changes affecting England, Wales and the Isle of Man.

Auditor General for Wales Adrian Crompton said data matching and other analytic techniques are becoming increasingly important as public bodies tackle risks around fraud and error.

He said: “The results from this exercise have not identified significant concerns about the accuracy of GP patient lists and that is a good thing. But there is no room for complacency. I therefore welcome the way in which NWSSP has taken forward learning from this exercise as part of wider improvements it has already made.”

The pilot compared certain personal details for permanently registered adult patients across GP lists in Wales and against UK Government death registration records. It identified just over 7,000 potential matches from around 2.7 million records processed, with most of the matches investigated by NWSSP found to be explainable false positives.

Audit Wales said the Auditor General is the independent statutory external auditor of the devolved Welsh public sector, responsible for the annual audit of the majority of public money spent in Wales.

New polling suggests more than one in four people in Wales have seen care delivered in corridors

ONE year after the Royal College of Nursing published a landmark report on “corridor care”, the union has warned that patients and staff in Wales are still being failed by what it describes as unsafe and undignified treatment in non-clinical spaces.

Corridor care refers to patients being treated outside proper ward or treatment areas, including corridors, waiting rooms and other spaces not designed for medical care. Nursing leaders say this can affect patient privacy and dignity, and may create safety risks where staff are working in crowded environments without appropriate equipment or monitoring.

RCN Wales said new UK-wide polling carried out by YouGov indicates the practice remains widespread. Of the 125 people surveyed in Wales, 28 per cent said they had witnessed NHS care being delivered in non-medical spaces such as corridors in the last six months.

Across the UK as a whole, 18 per cent of respondents reported witnessing care delivered in such settings.

The RCN said its analysis suggests an even higher figure among those who had recently accessed NHS services in Wales for themselves or a loved one, claiming 58 per cent said they had experienced or witnessed care delivered in a corridor or other inappropriate setting.

The union said the findings match what nursing staff have been reporting from inside Welsh hospitals. In a survey carried out by RCN Wales in 2025, almost two thirds of members working in NHS Wales hospitals said corridor care was a problem where they work.

One nurse working on an NHS mental health ward in Wales described corridor care as a regular occurrence, warning that staff were forced to provide care in unsafe environments, including corridors where fittings and objects may increase risk for vulnerable patients.

A frontline nurse responding to the RCN survey said: “Emergency departments are no longer able to function and we are causing harm to patients. Corridor care must stop.”

RCN Wales said the practice has become normalised, leaving staff distressed and demoralised, and making it harder to deliver safe care.

RCN Wales Associate Director of Nursing for Employment Relations, Nicky Hughes said: “Corridor care is not an inevitable consequence of winter pressures or staff shortages. It’s a symptom of a system that has been allowed to drift into crisis.

“Our members told us clearly last year that corridor care had become widespread and entrenched in NHS Wales, and the latest UK-wide polling shows that nothing has improved.

“Nursing staff are doing everything they can, but they cannot deliver safe and dignified care in corridors, waiting rooms or storage spaces. Patients deserve better, and so do the professionals who care for them.”

The RCN is calling for what it described as a fully funded plan to eliminate corridor care, including investment in inpatient beds, the nursing workforce, community services and social care, to reduce pressure on hospitals and prevent patients being left without appropriate treatment.

The Welsh Government and NHS Wales were asked to comment.

Polling details

The YouGov survey questioned 2,150 UK adults online between Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, January 5, 2026. The total sample included 125 respondents in Wales. The figures were weighted to be representative of UK adults aged 18 and over.

If you want, paste me any Welsh Government / NHS Wales reply (even a short emailed line), and I’ll drop it into the right paragraph so the balance reads naturally and doesn’t feel bolted on.