ONE in five A&E patients were looked after in a corridor this summer, figures reveal.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said it has become so common it is “a source of national shame”.
It quizzed doctors at 58 hospitals in England during July and August.
It also found 78 per cent believe patients are being harmed by delays in getting hospital beds.
A shortage of ward beds means many have to wait many hours or even days to be admitted to hospital.
The Royal College of Nursing said the findings show “emergency departments have become places of prolonged and unnecessary suffering”.
Health chiefs have so far failed to end the crisis of patients being treated in “inappropriate” areas including hallways, cupboards, bathrooms and empty wards.
One desperate London hospital in January advertised for a “corridor nurse” and others report patients dying in public areas.
Dr Ian Higginson said: “Emergency care never used to look like this and it’s incredibly disheartening for those working in our departments, who are doing everything they can.
“The situation is a visible sign that the system isn’t operating as it should, whether it is hospitals not operating fully effectively, or the inability to discharge people from wards as there aren’t appropriate social care options in place.
“We need meaningful change – lives depend on it.”
The Department of Health said planned changes, including NHS league tables, will “drive up standards”.
