HEALTH workers and MPs held a protest outside Parliament today demanding Wes Streeting put a stop to the “death sentence” that is corridor care and open 5,000 unused NHS beds.

Unions, campaigners and civil society organisations forming the SOS NHS coalition walked from St Thomas Hospital across Westminster Bridge holding to the Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the Houses of Parliament.

They held signs demanding Health Secretary Mr Streeting “Invest in the service and social care now!” and “End corridor care.”

A mock hospital bed was laid out on Parliament Square Garden while uniformed hospital workers attended to patients in a demonstration to draw attention to the “dangerous situation of corridor care.”

Keep Our NHS Public said the practice has contributed to the 16,000 yearly avoidable deaths measured by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine due to emergency care delays.

They have called for “urgent government action to restore bed capacity” and an end to “years of underinvestment,” which had left emergency services “overwhelmed and unable to deliver timely, life-saving care.”

The protest was joined by left-wing Labour MPs Ian Byrne, Richard Burgon, Kim Johnson MP and the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

KONP co-chair Dr Tony O’Sullivan said: “Corridor care isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a death sentence for thousands every year.

“The government’s promises won’t save lives unless they act now to reopen beds, hire staff, and fund social care properly. Every day of delay costs lives, and we cannot afford another year of inaction.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “While there have been clear improvements this winter – with faster ambulance handovers, shorter delays and fewer hospital beds occupied by flu patients – it is deeply concerning that some people are still being treated in corridors. It is undignified, and the government is determined to fix the mess it inherited.

“We have invested almost £450 million this winter to strengthen urgent and emergency care, expand vaccination programmes and help keep patients out of hospital wherever possible.

“NHS England is also working closely with trusts to reduce discharge delays, alongside social care colleagues. We will soon be publishing data on corridor care, as sunlight is the best disinfectant to end it for good.”