31,000 people sit for over 12 hours in A&E waiting rooms: no dignity, no privacy and broken faith in the NHS

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

A Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information request has revealed that in 2025, over 31,000 people have sat in A&E waiting rooms for over 12 hours, including 2,309 people over 75. 5,306 people have been forced to wait in a hospital chair for over 24 hours, with some waiting for over eight days.

This comes as the Government shockingly this week voted down a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Health Bill, which would have placed a duty on the Health Secretary to end Corridor Care within 12 months, and if they fail to do so, require they order an independent inquiry into corridor care and the failure to eradicate the practice.

Designated “Fit to Sit” spaces were originally introduced by hospital trusts to “improve patient flow and patient experience”, by offering a place for patients to wait in a seated area if they are able, rather than on hospital trolleys. However, data revealed by the Liberal Democrats shows that 31,000 people have faced waits of over 12 hours in “Fit to Sit” spaces, including over 2,000 over-75s. 

In 2025 the longest waits recorded were in Hampshire and Cornwall at 151 and 197 hours respectively, over six and eight days long. Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust saw waits of over 12 hours increase from two cases in 2021 to 2,287 in 2025 - with 481 of those patients waiting for over 24 hours. Similarly, incidents of over-75s facing a 24 hour+ long wait in ‘Fit to Sit’ areas have tripled between 2023-2025 in the London North West Hospital Trust.

Behind these shocking statistics are many terrible personal experiences. Raymond from Baschurch, who cares for his three adult sons, reported waiting 28 hours in a chair at Shrewsbury A&E last September after his son Simon collapsed at home.

Raymond stayed with Simon as his carer from his arrival at A&E on Sunday night until his discharge the next Saturday. After their initial 28-hour wait in A&E and a further wait in a holding area, Simon was eventually admitted to a ward on Wednesday.

Raymond said: “It took 16 hours before Simon was even offered a drink. It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that Simon was given some toast. Neither of us had eaten anything since arriving because we were scared to lose our place in the queue. Simon was very poorly and seemed to have made little progress by the time he was discharged.”

Raymond said that staff were doing their best but were working in impossible conditions. Other patients around Raymond and Simon were reporting even longer waits.

Liberal Democrats have set out plans for a £1.5 billion rescue package to resolve the corridor care crisis, freeing up 6,000 more bed spaces in hospitals across the country, including through investment in social care. On top of this, they are calling for patients to be given the legal right to be seen in A&E within 12 hours to put an end to the dangerous rise in long waits that this latest set of data shows.

Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP, said:

“These figures lay bare the huge cost of excruciatingly long waits for patients to access NHS care. Behind every statistic are NHS staff under huge pressure, family members waiting hours with loved ones and people suffering.

“Nobody should have to spend over 12 hours in a waiting room. It is shocking that the Government would not commit to ending the corridor care crisis. Liberal Democrats have set out our plans to end corridor care within a year, and will continue to push the Government to restore people’s privacy, dignity and faith in the NHS.

“You cannot fix the NHS, however, without first ending the crisis in social care - which piles pressure on our hospitals and waiting rooms and is a disaster for our communities. Liberal Democrats will do whatever it takes to find a real and lasting consensus on social care and end the crisis in our NHS.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• First reported by GB News and the Sunday Express (print edition)
• FOI data: Fit to Sit FoI - Google Sheets
• Many trusts responded to the FOI, saying that they did not have designated “Fit to Sit” areas. The data therefore only refers to these designated areas, rather than to waits in A&E departments more generally.
• Full details of Liberal Democrat plans to end the corridor care crisis: Our plan to end the A&E corridor crisis - Liberal Democrats.
• Liberal Democrat policies on A&E waits: End the A&E Crisis - Liberal Democrats.
• Liberal Democrat amendment to the Health Bill on Corridor Care:

To move the following Clause—

“Corridor care

(1)The Secretary of State must end the practice of corridor care in NHS hospitals within one year of the passage of this Act.

(2)If the requirement under subsection (1) is not met, the Secretary of State must commission an independent inquiry into the Government's handling of corridor care.

(3)The inquiry under subsection (2) must—

(a)investigate the effectiveness of policies, funding and guidance relating to corridor care in the Department of Health and Social Care;

(b)assess the impact on patient safety and staff morale from the continued practice of corridor care; and

(c)recommend steps the Secretary of State should take to end the practice of corridor care.

(4)The inquiry under subsection (2) should be supported by patient safety professionals from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body and the Care Quality Commission.
(5)The inquiry under subsection (2) must be published and laid before Parliament as a final report within 6 months beginning on the day on which the inquiry is established.”