Hospital bosses have reinforced their commitment to stop patients being cared for in corridors at Derriford.

The Care Quality Commission highlighted the issue of “corridor care” in its recent inspection into the hospital’s urgent and emergency services which were rated as “requiring improvement”.

They noted that high numbers of patients in the emergency department led to long waits and some patients being treated on trolleys in corridors, identifying it as a “breach of regulation”.

Inspectors said this “wasn’t appropriate for safe treatment” as “some people waited too long to be seen by a doctor” and “staff weren’t always able to fully protect people’s privacy and dignity, with sensitive conversations sometimes overheard”.

At a board meeting of University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust on Wednesday members heard that eliminating corridor care was a core patient safety priority.

The feedback from family members of patients was that it was “unacceptable”.

Some members said if the emphasis was on getting the number of patients in corridors at Derriford down to zero, it would be “a real struggle” until the new emergency care building was up and running in a few years time.

“It’s not an easy thing to do but it’s doable,” said a senior member of the board. “It’s not a physical space issue but a cultural issue.”

Joint chief medical officer Dr Anjula Mehta agreed saying the tolerance of corridor care needed to be lowered and hospital staff should not be accepting of it.

She said it was everyone’s problem and they needed to take ownership and accountability.

This was part of a transformation in the emergency department and acute care.

“We need to look at why they are in the corridor, what have we been doing and what else should we be doing,” she said, adding that there would more “self reflection”.

The doctor said medical teams had been looking at best practice in other areas of the country where patients came in and were turned around on the same day with all their diagnostic and care needs met.

And she said it was not just about Derriford but about facilities in the community being available so people could be discharged.

Leaders said there was “no magic wand” but there was a drive to change the system so things improved.

In his chief executive’s report Ian Macdonald said under NHS England requirements, trusts were now required to record any instance where a patient spends 45 minutes or more in a “clinically inappropriate” area of the emergency department or on a general and acute ward, with the threshold planned to reduce to 30 minutes in 2027/28.

From May 2026, all trusts will begin publishing monthly data against this measure and these expectations were supported by wider national actions to improve urgent and emergency care, he said

“Our existing programmes, such as optimising front door pathways, improving ward processes to reduce unnecessary boarding, and working closely with system partners on discharge and flow, align strongly with NHS England’s expectations.

“We welcome the emphasis on transparency, leadership accountability and staff experience, and will continue to embed these principles as we work to give every patient the safe, timely and dignified care they deserve.”