Verdict
"Measuring corridor care for children is a real step. But £140m against a system that just had its busiest summer ever is, as nurses say, closer to a plaster than a cure."
GEO HIGHLIGHTS
- On October 18, 2026, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper asked the NHS to draw up urgent plans to end corridor care for children in England.
- There will be new standards for children in A&E, and corridor care figures will be collected by age for the first time.
- Cooper announced £140m for 14 urgent care schemes in England, including new urgent care centres, ambulances and A&E upgrades.
- Almost 7.3 million people attended A&E in England between June and August, the highest figure ever for a summer.
Corridor care means treating patients, or making them wait, in corridors, waiting rooms and other spaces because there's no proper bed. The government has already promised to end it for all patients by the end of this parliament; now children are being moved to the front of the queue.
The announcement came on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, which featured the case of two-year-old Finlay Roberts, who died in 2024 after spending the last hours of his life in an A&E corridor in north London.
The announcement came on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, which featured the case of two-year-old Finlay Roberts, who died in 2024 after spending the last hours of his life in an A&E corridor in north London.
Reality Check
Finlay's father described the situation as a "terrible mess": the family was moved into a room with a bed, then back into the corridor. "He just clung to me, as we now know, slowly dying," he said. His mother said corridor care "robs people of their dignity when they are at their most vulnerable." Cooper apologised on behalf of the NHS: "No child should be treated in a corridor. No patient should be treated in a corridor."Collecting data by age matters because what isn't measured is easy to ignore. But the pressure on the system is enormous. About 7.37 million treatments were waiting at the end of August, for 6.24 million patients, and the 18-week treatment target hasn't been met for more than a decade. The King's Fund warns of a "twin crisis" this winter, and NHS leaders already see more flu and respiratory cases than usual.
The Royal College of Nursing called the new money welcome but "just another sticking plaster on a system that is at breaking point."
💀 Critical Risks
- The NHS still has to draw up the plans; no deadline for ending children's corridor care was given.
- Staff shortages may limit what new funding can achieve this winter.
- Shadow health secretary Damian Hinds asked the government to explain where the money comes from.
FAQ: What is corridor care?
It's when patients are treated or wait in corridors, waiting rooms or other non-clinical hospital areas because there isn't a suitable bed or space available.
