Thousands of children receive emergency treatment in NHS corridors and waiting rooms

Thousands of children are estimated to be receiving hospital treatment in corridors, waiting rooms and other unsuitable areas each year, despite NHS guidance stating that corridor care is never acceptable for young patients.

Research based on a snapshot of 165 UK emergency departments in March 2025 found that almost 7% of children attending specialist paediatric A&E units were treated in places such as corridors, waiting rooms or ambulances. Across all emergency departments admitting children, the proportion rose to 15%.

The issue has been brought into sharp focus by the death of two-year-old Finlay Roberts, who spent much of nine hours in a corridor at Whittington Hospital in north London in July 2024. He was discharged but died hours later from a twisted bowel. An inquest found that routine observations had not been completed, communication failures had occurred and different care could have given him a chance of survival.

Finlay’s parents described his experience as evidence of a “fundamentally broken” system. His mother was required to administer medication to him while sitting in a public area, removing his nappy without the privacy a clinical space should have provided.

NHS England said the survey reflected one of the service’s busiest periods and was more than 18 months old. It said corridor care involving children was now rare and individual cases were scrutinised, while the government said specialist teams were being sent into the most challenged hospitals as part of work to eradicate the practice.

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