Corridor Care

Baroness Browning Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

All of this is important, as the noble Baroness said. We are already undertaking a number of actions and one is about additional urgent care capacity; for example, in total some £2 billion is going into urgent care, particularly capital projects, which the noble Baroness did not specifically mention. The improvement of facilities, which is part of this, is absolutely key, as is getting care closer to home. With the kinds of improvements we are already seeing—for example, the emergency departments at Basildon and North Tees have had refurbishments—and by working with clinical leads, we will improve a long-standing situation that should never have been normalised and should only be exceptional.

[Baroness Browning (Con)]

I am sure that the Minister has seen some of the hospitals that have solved this problem. Is there a problem with hospitals that have overcome what is a very difficult problem sharing that information with other hospitals that are struggling? It always amazes me: when you see best practice, you just do not understand why it is not shared. If they do not voluntarily share it, is there anything the Minister can do to make them share it?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right. While we are very mindful of the need to make more progress, sharing best practice is key to how we are improving things across the whole pathway. The majority of corridor care occurs in a small number of trusts, and that is why we are putting in targeted teams to work with those trusts to do exactly what the noble Baroness suggests.