Internal Reference Number: FOI_9283
Date Request Received: 13/03/2026 00:00:00
Date Request Replied To: 27/03/2026 00:00:00
This response was sent via: By Email
Request Summary: Use of Non鈥慏esignated Areas for Patient Care
Request Category: Media
| Question Number 1: Freedom of Information Request 鈥傗赌傗赌傗赌傗赌� Use of non designated areas for patient care For each of the last three full calendar years (2023, 2024, 2025), please provide: The total number of days on which the trust provided patient care in non designated clinical areas, including but not limited to corridors, waiting rooms, alcoves, or other overspill spaces. 鈥� (If recorded under alternative terminology such as 鈥渙verspill areas鈥�, 鈥渢ransit zones鈥�, 鈥渆nhanced waiting areas鈥�, 鈥渢emporary care spaces鈥�, etc., please include these.) NHS England has published an official definition of corridor care, to enable accurate and consistent reporting. The definition states that a patient has experienced corridor care if they've spent at least 45 minutes in a clinically inappropriate area of an emergency department or general and acute ward | |
| Answer To Question 1: This information is reported to our Trust Board and is available in the papers published on our website - /about-us/the-trust-board/board-papers/ | |
| Question Number 2: Locations used Please list all specific areas within the trust鈥檚 estate that have been used to deliver patient care outside designated clinical areas during the same period, with a brief description of each space (e.g., corridor outside ED majors, corridor outside AMU, reception area). | |
| Answer To Question 2: In the time frames described different areas have been used and these include Temporary escalation areas used are - Amesbury ward 2 areas, Chilmark ward 1 area, Farley Ward assessment room, Spire ward 2 area, ED main corridor next to ambulance entrance and Radiology waiting room next to ED main department. These escalation areas are closed as quickly as possible after use and periods of surge | |
| Question Number 3: Modifications or infrastructure added to these areas - a - For each of the areas listed in Question 2, please confirm whether any of the following have been installed or implemented at any point since 2023: 鈥� Marked bays or taped out treatment spaces 鈥� Bay numbers or identifiers 鈥� Call bells, oxygen points, suction, or other clinical infrastructure 鈥� Hooks or rails for IV fluids 鈥� Additional monitoring equipment 鈥� Privacy screens or partitions 鈥� Any other physical or operational modifications to support patient care If held, please provide the month/year of installation. 3 - b - Does your trust have any formalised staffing for corridor care? (eg. a corridor rota allocation?) - YES or NO | |
| Answer To Question 3: Modifications or infrastructure added to these areas - a - For each of the areas listed in Question 2, please confirm whether any of the following have been installed or implemented at any point since 2023: 鈥� Marked bays or taped out treatment spaces - yes 鈥� Bay numbers or identifiers - yes 鈥� Call bells, oxygen points, suction, or other clinical infrastructure - portable equipment is provided as required 鈥� Hooks or rails for IV fluids - Fluid stands are provided if required 鈥� Additional monitoring equipment - Not applicable Patients requiring continuous monitoring are not placed in these spaces 鈥� Privacy screens or partitions - yes 鈥� Any other physical or operational modifications to support patient care If held, please provide the month/year of installation. 3 - b - Does your trust have any formalised staffing for corridor care? (eg. a corridor rota allocation?) - YES | |
| Question Number 4: Policies or internal guidance Please provide copies of any current internal policies, SOPs, risk assessments, or guidance documents that relate to: 鈥� The use of non designated areas for patient care 鈥� Management of 鈥渃orridor care鈥�, 鈥渙verspill areas鈥�, 鈥渢ransit zones鈥�, or equivalent terminology 鈥� Staffing, monitoring, or escalation procedures for patients placed in such areas | |
| Answer To Question 4: Policies or internal guidance Please provide copies of any current internal policies, SOPs, risk assessments, or guidance documents that relate to: 鈥� The use of non designated areas for patient care - yes 鈥� Management of 鈥渃orridor care鈥�, 鈥渙verspill areas鈥�, 鈥渢ransit zones鈥�, or equivalent terminology - yes 鈥� Staffing, monitoring, or escalation procedures for patients placed in such areas - yes three times daily reviews The Trust has an escalation plan including staffing reviews , risk assessment , standard operating procedures and duty of candour letters. They are dynamic and change on a regular basis as demand changes so it does not feel appropriate to share them | |
| Question Number 5: Capacity planning and the government鈥檚 commitment to end corridor care by 2029 a) Please confirm YES or NO whether the trust currently holds documented plans, modelling, or projections indicating that the trust will have sufficient bed capacity, clinical space, and staffing to meet projected demand by 2029 without the use of non designated clinical areas. b) Please confirm YES or NO whether the trust currently holds documented plans AND identified funding (capital and/or revenue) to ensure that patient care will no longer take place in non designated clinical areas by 2029. c) For each YES response, please provide copies of the relevant documents. For each NO response, please state whether the trust has undertaken any assessment of what capacity or funding would be required to meet the 2029 aim. | |
| Answer To Question 5: Capacity planning and the government鈥檚 commitment to end corridor care by 2029 a) Please confirm YES or NO whether the trust currently holds documented plans, modelling, or projections indicating that the trust will have sufficient bed capacity, clinical space, and staffing to meet projected demand by 2029 without the use of non designated clinical areas. The Trust has agreed planning assumptions with commissioners. Within these planning assumptions the Trust has sufficient bed capacity to end corridor care. b) Please confirm YES or NO whether the trust currently holds documented plans AND identified funding (capital and/or revenue) to ensure that patient care will no longer take place in non designated clinical areas by 2029. The Trust has agreed planning assumptions with commissioners. Within these planning assumptions the Trust has sufficient bed capacity to end corridor care. c) For each YES response, please provide copies of the relevant documents. The Trust business plan will becoming to a public board which includes a demonstration of the bed model, activity levels and other key planning assumptions. This will be available on our website once approved by the Trust board | |
| Question Number 6: Optional comment If the trust wishes to provide any contextual information about the use of non designated areas, the move to making non designated clinical areas into functional quasi spaces or your plans to reduce reliance on them, please include it here. If you medical director would like to share a comment here on the answers provided, I would happily receive it and note it. | |
| Answer To Question 6: No optional comments | |
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