NHS hospital patients are routinely being treated in emergency beds

Hospital patients are routinely being treated in emergency beds and left on makeshift wards in corridors, doctors have warned.

The British Medical Association said thousands of temporary beds - kept in reserve for major winter crises or emergencies like terror attacks - are being used on a daily basis.

There is no designated space for the extra beds in hospitals, meaning severely ill patients are crammed into corridors and other makeshift wards.

Beds for patients recovering from surgery are also being repurposed as emergency beds - forcing the cancellation of hundreds of routine operations, the doctors' union warned.

Many of the 'escalation beds' are old beds that have been mothballed but are kept in storage for use in during winter months, when more patients are admitted.

However, a survey by the BMA found that thousands of escalation beds are consistently being used for months as hospitals are unable to cope with soaring demand.

Nine in ten NHS hospital trusts were using emergency beds last month - which the BMA said proves the health service is 'in a state of year-round crisis'.

Hospitals have to employ expensive agency workers to staff the additional beds, at a huge cost.

On March 3 this year there were at least 3,428 escalation beds in operation across England, and on May 1 there were 1,637 escalation beds still in use.

The data showed more emergency beds were in use last month than in January, at the height of winter pressures.

Figures were only provided by 80 out of 134 NHS trusts, suggesting the true figure is much higher.

The BMA said 10,000 more beds were needed to provide a safe level of care and experts warned hospitals are 'full to bursting'.

Dr Rob Harwood, from the BMA, said: 'It cannot be right that the NHS is having to use these measures almost permanently.

'The use of escalation beds is a sign that trusts are at a critical stage and are unable to cope with demand with their current bed stock.