Patient safety within the NHS has been a major national talking point in 2025, from the government’s maternity investigation to the normalisation of corridor care.
As we reach the end of the year, public concerns about patient safety are only set to surge as we face the triple threat of winter viruses, the doctor’s strike, and strict financial demands from NHS bosses.
With the conversation about what ‘safe’ care should look like becoming more widespread amongst families, we have seen an influx in people coming to us for legal advice this year about potential medical negligence claims.
Many people have shared similar concerns: Was my care safe? Was my treatment delayed? Should the hospital have acted sooner? “Was what happened to me normal… or was it negligence?”
In our final blog for this year, we look at how systemic pressures can lead to errors, what it means for you, and when it may be appropriate to seek legal guidance.
Emergency services at risk of collapse due to increasing pressure
Emergency departments continued to face significant strain this year, with challenges not seen since the Covid pandemic in 2020.
This has only heightened over winter as the NHS is hit by its usual busy winter period. In November, there were a record 2.35million attendances at A&E departments across the country – more than 30,000 higher than last year. There were also over 802,000 ambulance incidents last month, versus around 753,000 last year.
The rise in the number of ‘super’ flu and respiratory cases we have seen these last couple of months has also crippled hospitals. There have been 2,660 patients admitted to hospital each day with flu, a record level that has jumped by more than 55 percent since this time last year. That’s enough patients to fill three whole hospital trusts each day.
Healthcare staff are also catching this strain of flu from patients, leading to reduced staffing numbers. All of this comes as resident doctors are set to strike for five days in the lead up to Christmas (17th to 22nd December) which will leave the NHS teetering on a knife edge at its most precarious moment of the last five years.
Within emergency departments, that pressure cooker environment means patients may not be properly monitored or they will experience delays in urgent treatment. Twelve hour waits are now the norm, which adversely affects the most vulnerable patients – one person dies unnecessarily in every 72 patients who wait between eight and 12 hours to be seen.
Investigations and patient reviews this year have highlighted recurring patterns, including:
- Delayed triage
- Missed symptoms in overstretched units
- Reduced staffing levels or reliance on temporary staff
- Complications not escalated quickly enough
Corridor care has become normalised
A knock-on effect of that pressure felt within emergency services is the increase in ‘corridor care’ with patients treated on trolleys in hallways or other non-clinical spaces because wards are full.
Treating patients outside proper clinical areas due to overcrowding has been reported as widespread, with one in five patients treated in hallways, cupboards or offices. It’s become a symptom of wider system pressures, including patient flow, an ageing population, and fragility within the social care sector.
Almost every A&E department across the country deploys this approach routinely and the NHS now has even provided guidance on ‘Principles for Providing Patient Care in Corridors’ where it has been deemed unavoidable. This is despite NHS leaders recognising that it is unsuitable, undignified and potentially unsafe. Staff may not have access to the right equipment, symptoms can be missed or deterioration overlooked, and privacy and dignity are compromised.
Othe issues with corridor care include:
- Infection control risks – staff don’t have access to basic handwashing and waste disposal equipment
- Delayed emergency response – there are no call bell alarms on corridors and staff may not be able to easily locate patients
- Fire safety hazards – corridors crowded with trolleys, chairs, equipment and patients reduced access to fire doors and causes obstructions in emergency situations
- Manual handling safety – manoeuvring equipment or trolleys is more difficult in confined spaces and narrow corridors, putting more risk of injury on staff
The Royal College of Nursing, who first sounded the alarm 18 months ago, are now calling for corridor care to be eradicated. Chief nursing officer, Lynn Woolsey, says it’s ‘deeply distressing and demoralising’ to see it accepted as inevitable. She wants to see a fully funded plan to invest in more hospital beds and nursing staff, as well as urgent action to boost social care capacity which would speed up patient discharge.
Clinical negligence claims and costs on the rise
In the financial year ending March 2025, the number of clinical negligence claims made against the NHS remained elevated.
According to the NHS Resolution Annual Report & Accounts 2024/25:
- 14,428 new clinical negligence claims were received across the NHS during 2024/25, nearly 40 claims per day on average.
- The NHS paid out £3.1 billion in clinical negligence compensation and associated costs in 2024/25, up from around £2.8 billion the previous year.
- The estimated annual cost of harm for incidents under the main clinical scheme (CNST) was approximately £4.6 billion.
- Emergency medicine, obstetrics (maternity), and orthopaedics continue to be among the most commonly cited areas in clinical negligence claims.
These figures underscore that, while most NHS care is safe, the financial and human cost of harm from negligent care remains significant, particularly where serious, life-long injuries are involved.
Maternity claims still a major feature of clinical negligence
Maternity care continues to represent a substantial share of both claims and compensation:
- £1.3 billion of the total £3.1 billion in clinical negligence payouts in 2024/25 was for maternity-related claims - 42% of all payments.
- In terms of the overall cost of harm, £2.5 billion (about 51%) related to maternity injuries, up from 49% the previous year.
- Looking at future liabilities, 62% (£37.5 billion) of the total clinical negligence provision is connected to maternity claims, reflecting the high cost and long-term care needs associated with serious birth injuries.
Birth injury claims remains a key area where families seek legal support and these figures provide context for why maternity care and safety remain in the national spotlight.
Earlier this year, the health secretary Wes Streeting announce the Department of Health was launching a rapid review into maternity care across the NHS. In late 2025, Baroness Valerie Amos, chair of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation (NMNI), published an interim report based on visits to NHS trusts and discussions with affected families and staff.
Her key findings include:
- Maternity and neonatal services are in a worse state than anticipated, with serious and persistent safety concerns across multiple trusts.
- Despite 748 recommendations made over the past decade to improve care, many have not been fully implemented, meaning systemic issues persist.
- Women and families continue to report poor communication, dismissive attitudes, lack of empathy, and neglected basic care, in some cases leading to tragic outcomes.
- The report highlights impacts on physical, emotional, and mental well-being and underscores the need for urgent and meaningful change.
Baroness Amos’s final recommendations are expected when the full report is published in spring 2026, but the interim findings already paint a stark picture of widespread and ongoing safety failings in maternity services.
Some positive news - Martha’s Rule rolled out across all acute hospitals
A major positive change in 2025 was the full rollout of Martha’s Rule to all 210 acute inpatient sites in England.
Martha’s Rule was initially launched as a pilot scheme to 143 sites in April 2024. Named after Martha Mills, who died from sepsis in 2021 after her parents’ concerns were ignored, the new rule gives patients and families the right to request a rapid clinical review by a senior team if they believe the patient is deteriorating and not being taken seriously.
How this helps patients:
- A senior clinician must review the situation promptly.
- A second opinion can prevent deterioration being overlooked.
- Families feel more confident raising concerns.
Between September 2024 and June 2025, there were 4,906 calls made to the Martha’s Rule helpline. This triggered 241 potentially life-saving interventions. Due to the success of the pilot scheme, it has now been rolled out to 67 more NHS trusts, meaning every patient in England should have access to it.
Thinking about taking action in the New Year?
The end of the year is a natural time to reflect. If something happened in 2025 that still doesn’t feel right, we’re here to listen.
You don’t need to know whether you have a case - that’s what we’re here for. Our team of expert medical negligence lawyers can help you understand whether your care was negligent. In many cases, the issue isn’t a single mistake but a series of missed opportunities in an overstretched system.
Following a no obligation, confidential chat to discuss what happened to you, we will then advise on the best options to resolve your concerns. This could be making an official complaint against the hospital, clinic or doctor’s surgery that was responsible for your care.
If we believe you could escalate this complaint further with formal legal proceedings, we can then help obtain your medical records and begin initial investigations, during which we will seek opinion from medical experts related to your case.
As we head into a New Year, this is also your reminder to advocate for your health in 2026. If something feels wrong at the time, such as long waits, not being listened to, or concerns being dismissed, make a written record as soon as possible. This is helpful if you later decide to explore a claim.