Responding to today's RCN report on the corridor care crisis, the BMA Chair of Council, Professor Philip Banfield said:

"Corridor care should never ever be 'the norm' in any hospital and, yet as this report reveals, our patients are being looked after, not in beds, on wards or in proper cubicles, but in places which are unsafe and inhumane. Doctors, and now our nursing colleagues, are almost beyond despair as they struggle with the impossible task of trying vainly to look after scores of sick and dying people, left for hours on end in unsanitary and unacceptable conditions.

"Doctors and nursing teams are doing everything possible, but the solution does not lie with them and unless we see immediate and urgent intervention from this Government, the number of preventable deaths will rise as each day passes."

Notes to editors

The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.