**Crisis in Welsh Hospitals: Sick Children Treated in Store Cupboards Amid Chaotic Overcrowding**
The current state of hospital care in Wales has sparked alarm after leading medical unions released a report outlining harrowing instances of patients—including sick children—being treated in store cupboards and other unsuitable areas due to chronic overcrowding. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and British Medical Association Cymru Wales (BMA) are demanding urgent action from the Welsh Government as shocking testimonies from doctors and nurses highlight the dire impact of insufficient hospital beds and “corridor care”.
The report, published jointly by the RCN and BMA, draws on accounts from medical staff working across every health board in Wales. Among the cases cited are children being treated in cupboards, elderly patients forced to receive examinations in toilets for lack of space, and even tragic stories of patients dying in waiting rooms when they should have been assigned hospital beds. Staff have described scenarios where unwell people are left to wait for long hours—and occasionally days—on plastic chairs or trolleys, without proper monitoring, access to refreshments, or functioning toilets, all in climates described as “crowded” and “chaotic”.
Medics say these experiences are becoming alarmingly common. One doctor from a hospital in the Hywel Dda Health Board recounted a patient collapsing and dying in a waiting area because a bed was unavailable. “Unfortunately, this is not something that’s uncommon,” the doctor warned. According to a recent survey by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, every A&E department in Wales saw patients being treated in inappropriate and unsafe spaces during the first quarter of 2025, and close to half of all patients waited for an inpatient bed.
Some patients, faced with long and uncomfortable waits in non-clinical environments, simply go home without treatment. Others have resorted to sleeping on hospital floors or urinating where they wait for lack of toilet access. Staff report that such environments are not only undignified, but unsafe—sometimes resulting in missed diagnoses and deteriorating patient conditions.
The medical unions have now launched a public petition urging the Welsh Government to eliminate “corridor care”—the practice of treating patients in corridors, waiting areas, and makeshift spaces—by making it a “never event” for patients to spend more than 24 hours in a chair. The petition also pushes for the immediate halt of planned reductions in hospital beds, a nationwide review of capacity, and revitalised investment in community-based care and general practice to meet rising demand.
Numbers underline the crisis. Dr Iona Collins, chair of the BMA Welsh Council, pointed out that the number of hospital beds in Wales has fallen dramatically over 25 years, dropping from 19,000 to just over 10,000. Dr Collins attributes the mounting pressure on hospitals to a range of factors: cuts to social care delaying patient discharge, difficulties accessing GPs, and reduced funding for frontline services. She notes that many newly qualified GPs are struggling to find jobs in Wales, further squeezing the system.
Helen Whyley, director of RCN Wales, described the situation as “beyond breaking point”, after witnessing people in pain, distressed, and deprived of privacy and dignity. “Treating patients in corridors and other inappropriate areas is not nursing—it is crisis management in a system that is failing,” she said, calling the practice unsafe and unacceptable.
Stephen Kelly, chair of the BMA’s Welsh consultants’ committee, echoed these sentiments. “When a patient is not placed in a bed space there’s a chance something vital may be missed—there’s no access to monitoring equipment and no privacy for certain procedures,” he cautioned. Kelly is particularly worried that the treatment of patients in corridors and other spaces could become “normalised,” posing significant risks to patient safety.
Anonymous testimonies from across the NHS in Wales paint a bleak picture. One medic described patients with broken bones left in chairs for up to 72 hours, while another regularly saw cardiac patients in corridor chairs without access to essential monitoring. Distressingly, several reported that frail or elderly patients—especially those with dementia—suffered most from lack of access to toilets, water, or food.
In response to the mounting criticism, the Welsh Government stated that it “does not endorse routine care in non-clinical environments” but admitted such incidents can occur during periods of exceptional demand. Officials pointed to a £200 million investment this year aimed at improving home care and expediting hospital discharges. However, they rejected calls to designate “care in chairs for more than 24 hours” as a ‘never event’, arguing that such errors are only classed as preventable.
Amidst these calls for reform, the RCN and BMA are urging the public to support their petition and demand that the Welsh Government prioritises safe and dignified hospital care. As health unions warn of growing risks to both patients and staff, there is mounting pressure on policymakers to address Wales’ bed and staffing shortages, and bring an end to corridor care in the NHS.