Government promises ‘urgent’ data on child corridor care after ITV News investigation

Play Brightcove video Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 1:54 Loaded : 0.00% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 1:54 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track en (Main) , selected Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Play Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently playing live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen The Health Secretary has stated that "no child should be treated in a corridor" The Health Secretary has announced in Parliament that the NHS will begin publishing official data on the number of children subjected to corridor care, after an ITV News investigation exposed the scale of the issue. Last week, research obtained by ITV News revealed, for the first time, that thousands of children a year in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being treated in NHS hospital corridors and waiting rooms. The parents of a toddler who spent hours in a busy A&E corridor shortly before he died told ITV News it was "emblematic of a broken system". In the final hours of two-year-old Finlay Roberts' life, his mother had to administer a rectal suppository to her critically ill son, while sitting on a chair in the public area. Finlay spent nine hours in a busy, under-staffed emergency department. Credit: Family handout The Liberal Democrats Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Helen Morgan, has now raised ITV News' "devastating" findings in the House of Commons. "Will the Secretary of State confirm when we will see data on the numbers of children receiving corridor care? And will she commit to ending corridor care once and for all, within a year, and making children an urgent priority?," asked Helen Morgan. Apologising to the Roberts' family, the Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, told MPs, "The story of what happened to little Finlay is just devastating, and unimaginable for his family." Exclusive ‘A broken system’: Thousands of children treated in NHS hospital corridors Health Secretary pledges action to end ‘corridor care’ for children in hospitals The Secretary of State then vowed to ensure the NHS starts collecting and publishing official figures on the scale of children receiving care in non-clinical hospital spaces, just as it does for adults. "I am introducing new assessments of corridor care involving children, because that has to be the urgent priority. No child should be treated in a corridor," she explained. In response to the announcement, Liz and David Roberts told ITV News, "We miss Finny terribly. Corridor care was one of several failings from which he suffered. Failings which, in the words of the coroner, denied him a chance at life. "We are grateful to Helen Morgan for raising the issue, and to the Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, for taking it seriously. "We hope that what happened to Finny can catalyse meaningful measures to end this terrible practice, for children and adults alike." Have you heard our podcast Talking Politics? Tom and Robert dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda in every episode…