Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle and reduce corridor care in accident and emergency departments in Greater Manchester.

We recognise concerns about corridor care and are clear that it is not acceptable and should not be normalised. Corridor care is a visible symptom of wider pressures across urgent and emergency care, and we are committed to eliminating this practice.

The Government and NHS England are taking action across the whole pathway to improve patient flow, expand urgent care capacity, and reduce unnecessary demand on accident and emergency departments. This includes targeted support to the most challenged trusts, alongside strengthened reporting arrangements and a clear national definition of corridor care to improve transparency, and we will shortly publish data for the first time, subject to data quality.

The Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board is working with local providers to tackle corridor care through action across the urgent and emergency care pathway. This includes strengthening same day emergency care and front door models, improving assessment, streaming and early clinical decision making, and maintaining a strong system focus on inpatient flow, early discharge planning, and transfer of care processes. The system is also expanding alternatives to admission, including urgent community response, virtual wards, and community pathways, supported by operational oversight through the System Coordination Centre, daily escalation processes, and strengthened reporting and improvement support for organisations facing the greatest pressure.