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Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has asked NHS leaders in England to accelerate plans to end corridor care for children, following the death of two-year-old Finlay Roberts in 2024 after he spent hours in an A&E corridor. The government says new children’s emergency-care standards and age-specific monitoring are planned, alongside £140 million for 14 urgent-care improvement schemes. No deadline for ending the practice for children has been announced.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has asked NHS leaders in England to accelerate plans to end corridor care for children, following the death of two-year-old Finlay Roberts, who spent hours in an A&E corridor before being discharged from a north London hospital in 2024. Cooper said new standards for children’s emergency care would be introduced, but no end date has been set.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Cooper said the NHS would be asked to draw up urgent plans to prioritise children and speed up efforts to stop them being treated in corridors. The proposals include updated standards for children’s emergency care and collecting corridor-care figures by patient age for the first time. The age-based data is intended to show how many children are affected; figures were not provided in the source report.
The announcement follows the experience of Finlay and his parents, David and Liz Roberts. His father said the family had initially been moved into a room with a bed, then returned to the corridor. David told the BBC: “He just clung to me, as we now know, slowly dying.” His mother recalled being asked to give her son a suppository while they were in the corridor, raising concerns about privacy and dignity.
The government has also committed £140 million for 14 urgent-care improvement schemes across England. The projects are expected to include new urgent-care centres, ambulance fleets and emergency-department upgrades. Whittington Health NHS Trust, where Finlay received care, expressed condolences and acknowledged that exceptional demand can mean patients are treated in temporary clinical areas, including corridors.
What the Changes Could Mean for Children
Children treated in corridors may lack the privacy and appropriate clinical space families expect when they seek emergency help. The proposed standards and age-specific reporting could give NHS leaders clearer information about the scale of the problem and a basis for tracking whether conditions improve. Neither measure changes care immediately, however, and the source report gives no timetable for ending corridor care for children.
The £140 million is directed at 14 schemes, rather than described as a complete solution to overcrowding across England. Health organisations have warned that funding alone may not address pressures including staff shortages and demand across the wider NHS. For parents, the announcement is a commitment to change, not a guarantee that every emergency department will have space available during the coming winter.
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How Corridor Care Became a Focus
“Corridor care” refers to patients being treated or made to wait in corridors, waiting rooms or other areas not designed for clinical care, usually when emergency departments are overcrowded. The practice can leave families waiting without a dedicated treatment space and raise concerns about privacy, dignity and the conditions of care.
The government had already pledged to end corridor care for all patients by the end of this parliament. Cooper’s latest intervention puts children’s care forward as a priority and adds age-based monitoring to the planned response. It comes as the NHS prepares for winter, when illnesses such as flu and norovirus can add pressure to emergency services.
The report cites NHS figures showing that almost 7.3 million people attended A&E in England between June and August 2026, described as the highest recorded number for a summer period. That measure covers all A&E attendances; it does not show how many patients were treated in corridors or how many were children.
““No child should be treated in a corridor. No patient should be treated in a corridor.””
— Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, speaking to the BBC
Deadlines and Local Effects Remain Unclear
No specific date has been announced for ending corridor care for children, and the source report does not detail when the new standards will take effect or what requirements they will set. It is also not yet clear how the 14 funded schemes will be distributed, when their work will be completed or how much of the funding will directly benefit children’s emergency services.
The new age-based monitoring is planned, but no starting date, reporting schedule or existing count of children treated in corridors was provided. The account of Finlay’s care and the family’s concerns is reported by the source; the material does not provide findings from an investigation into the circumstances of his death. The trust’s response acknowledges temporary clinical areas during exceptional demand but does not set out further case-specific details.
NHS Plans and Winter Pressures
NHS leaders are expected to draw up the urgent plans Cooper requested, while updated children’s emergency-care standards and age-based corridor-care monitoring are developed. The government’s 14 improvement schemes are also intended to receive the announced £140 million. The source report does not give a publication date for the plans or standards, or a timeline for the funded projects.
In the meantime, the NHS is preparing for winter demand, and families may still face busy emergency departments and waits. The source report advises that parents seeking urgent but non-life-threatening help can contact NHS 111; for a life-threatening emergency, call 999 or go to A&E.
Key Questions
What action has Yvette Cooper requested?
Cooper has asked NHS leaders in England to draw up urgent plans to prioritise children and accelerate efforts to end corridor care. The proposals include new children’s emergency-care standards and collecting corridor-care data by age.
Why was the announcement made?
It followed the death of two-year-old Finlay Roberts in 2024. His father said Finlay spent hours in a north London hospital’s A&E corridor before being discharged. The source report does not provide findings from an investigation into his death.
When will corridor care for children end?
No specific deadline has been announced. Cooper has called for urgent action, but the timing and details of the plans and standards are not yet available in the source report.
What is the £140 million for?
The funding is for 14 urgent-care improvement schemes across England. The report says projects may include urgent-care centres, ambulance fleets and emergency-department upgrades; it does not give a project-by-project breakdown.
Will the announcement immediately change what parents experience in A&E?
No immediate change is confirmed. The announcement sets out plans and funding, but families may still encounter crowded departments while the NHS develops its response and winter demand continues.
Source: rss
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