# Health secretary vows to end corridor care for children

> Yvette Cooper promises urgent action to stop young NHS patients being treated in hospital corridors, as figures show the problem is worsening.
- Title: Health secretary vows to end corridor care for children
- Summary: Yvette Cooper promises urgent action to stop young NHS patients being treated in hospital corridors, as figures show the problem is worsening. Health…
- Keywords: yvette cooper, nhs england, corridor care, children, a&e departments, health policy, politics, news, Health, secretary, vows, end
- Source: The Independent — https://independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nhs-hospital-children-yvette-cooper-laura-kuenssberg-b3068737.html
- Published: 2026-10-18T10:19:30+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: yvette cooper, nhs england, corridor care, children, a&e departments, health policy, politics, news
## Cooper demands urgent standards for child A&E care
Health secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC she asked NHS England's chief executive to draw up urgent new standards for treating children in A&E, with a priority plan to eliminate corridor care for children.

> No child should be treated in a corridor.
## Corridor care numbers rising sharply
In September, fifty thousand five hundred eighty-two people waited more than twelve hours in A&E departments in England from decision to admit to admission, up from forty-four thousand nine hundred fifty-one in August.
## Daily corridor care patients increase
An average of three thousand three hundred ten patients in England received corridor care each day in September, up from two thousand eight hundred sixty-five per day in August, NHS figures show.
## Cooper says child health is NHS sidecar
Cooper said child health needs to be a much greater priority for the NHS, saying maternity and child care has been treated as a bit of a sidecar for the National Health Service and must…

> Maternity and child care and child health, I think, has been treated as a bit of a sidecar for the National Health Service. I think it has to be a priority.
## Government invests one hundred forty million in urgent care
Before the BBC appearance, Cooper announced a one hundred forty million pound boost for urgent care in England, spent on fourteen schemes including new urgent care centres, ambulance fleets and emergency department upgrades.
## Key takeaway

Health secretary Yvette Cooper has promised urgent action to eliminate corridor care for children in NHS hospitals, citing it as a priority for the service.