Another day, further signs of a deepening crisis in the NHS

This is underlined by recent data from NHS England showing that more hospital beds were occupied last week than at any point so far this winter, with 96 per cent of adult general and acute hospital beds having patients in them.

It isn’t just as simple as blaming the flu season. The NHS is ill-equipped to deal with patients even when there isn’t an abnormal strain on services.

The fact that many hospitals are having to administer corridor care is a damning indictment. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) published a harrowing new report highlighting a lack of beds, patients crowding corridors, delays to treatment and the elderly unable to get help because of no call bells and not enough staff. It shows just how sickly the health service has become.

In no world is treating patients in corridors or cupboards going to be safe. That much is clear from the various warnings issued by the professionals.

The most concerning thing is that the current state of the NHS is being normalised both within and outside the organisation. One hospital has come under fire for advertising for nurses who can work shifts in its corridors.

It’s unfair to single out individual hospitals as they are simply adjusting to the hand that they’ve been dealt. But corridor care cannot become the norm.

Neither should NHS trusts across England be breaking the rule preventing patients of different sexes from being treated on the same ward.

Which is what happened nearly 50,000 times last year.

Dignity needs to be at the heart of patient care but that’s not possible when the NHS is in a permanent state of crisis.