West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust treated corridor care as a whole-hospital problem, not just an emergency department issue. Senior leaders took clear ownership, increased their visibility during busy periods, including evenings and weekends, and set firm standards around patient dignity and safety.

The trust focused on improving how patients moved through the hospital — speeding up discharge decisions, strengthening multidisciplinary working, and holding teams accountable for long stays. Improvement was framed around patient safety and staff wellbeing, not just performance targets, which helped bring staff on board.

The results were clear: fewer patients being cared for in corridors, shorter waits in the emergency department, better engagement from specialist teams, and improved staff morale.