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The health secretary has asked the NHS to draw up urgent plans to speed up ending hospital “corridor care” for children.<\/b><\/p>\n
Yvette Cooper told the BBC there would be new standards for caring for children in A&E in England, with figures collected on corridor care by age for the first time.<\/p>\n
She was speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg where the programme highlighted the case of two-year-old Finlay Roberts who died in a hospital corridor in 2024.<\/p>\n
The health secretary has announced \u00a3140m to improve urgent care in England ahead of what she said would be a “more difficult” winter than usual.<\/p>\n
The government has already pledged to end corridor care for all patients by the end of this parliament, and now Cooper has said eradicating it for children would be prioritised. <\/p>\n
Corridor care refers to patients receiving treatment or waiting in corridors, waiting rooms or other hospital areas due to a lack of appropriate space.<\/p>\n
The health secretary was also asked if the government would meet a key manifesto pledge that 92% of patients would start treatment within 18 weeks of booking a hospital appointment by 2029. <\/p>\n
“That remains our manifesto commitment and of course we’re going to keep working towards it,” Cooper said.<\/p>\n
Pushed further on whether the target was achievable, she replied: “The whole point about having the targets is about having something stretching that we work towards.” <\/p>\n
The 18-week target has consistently not been met for more than a decade. <\/p>\n
Cooper said that the NHS was dealing with a number of challenges after record A&E admissions following heatwaves over the summer.<\/p>\n
According to the latest figures for England, an estimated 7.37 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of August, relating to 6.24 million patients. <\/p>\n
On the programme the story of Finlay Roberts, who died in 2024 after spending the final hours of his life in an A&E corridor in north London was highlighted.<\/p>\n
Finlay’s father David told the BBC the situation was a “terrible mess”, with the family moved into a room with a bed before being moved back into the corridor. <\/p>\n
“He just clung to me, as we now know, slowly dying,” he said.<\/p>\n
Liz Roberts, Finlay’s mother, said corridor care “robs people of their dignity when they are at their most vulnerable”. She recalled being told to administer a suppository to her son in the corridor.<\/p>\n
Cooper apologised to Finlay’s parents on behalf of the NHS, saying: “No child should be treated in a corridor. No patient should be treated in a corridor.” <\/p>\n
The Whittington Health NHS Trust where this happened extended their condolences to the family.<\/p>\n
They said they continued to experience periods of exceptional demand across emergency care and at times some patients may receive care in temporary clinical areas, including corridors. <\/p>\n
“Our staff work tirelessly to provide safe and compassionate care in extremely challenging conditions,” they said.<\/p>\n
On Friday health groups – including Age UK, Marie Curie and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), also expressed their concern over corridor care, writing a letter to the health secretary urging her to take action.<\/p>\n
It said the practice was fundamentally incompatible with NHS care standards and it would require “whole-system action” to eradicate it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n