A&E corridor care crisis sees boy, 2, with ‘tummy ache’ die from twisted bowel

A&E corridor care crisis sees boy, 2, with ‘tummy ache’ die from twisted bowel EXCLUSIVE: Parents of tragic Finlay Roberts say corridor care crisis shows NHS is "fundamentally broken" as thousands of children wait in inappropriate spaces in A&Es Thousands of sick children are being treated in A&E corridors despite the practice being outlawed by the NHS. The parents of a toddler who spent hours in a busy A&E corridor shortly before he died say it is evidence of a “broken system". Finlay Roberts, aged two, died after waiting for hours in a hospital corridor with tummy ache after medics failed to identify he had a twisted bowel. Corridor care became widespread in the NHS after the Covid-19 pandemic and sees patients treated in non-clinical spaces such as corridors, offices and walk-in cupboards. An ITV News broadcast will on Tuesday outline the first analysis showing how widespread it is for children. To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror just click on the link here to get them at the top of your feed. Hundreds of children treated in A&E corridors every month Analysis carried by the Trainee Emergency Research Network looked at 165 A&Es - and found it is happening to hundreds of children every month. Finlay’s mum Liz Roberts said: “I think it's very difficult to assess how unwell somebody is when you're sitting in a corridor with everything going on around you. The reality was he was the sickest person there, that evening. Just a few hours later, he’d be back there and they'd be saying that he had died.” Corridor care became commonplace before Labour came to power in 2024 after a decade of increasing A&E and 999 waits. The Mirror previously revealed the practice was quietly rolled out across the NHS in England in 2022 to get ambulances queuing outside A&Es back on the road quicker. Labour has vowed to phase out corridor care but NHS England states that it is “never acceptable” and must never be allowed for children, as well as mental health patients and people near the end of life. Toddler died after spending hours in A&E corridor Researchers gathered snapshot data from 165 hospitals across the UK in March 2025. In specialist paediatric A&E departments almost 7% of children were treated in spaces like a waiting room, the back of an ambulance or a corridor. Across all emergency departments that see children they found 15% of children who were admitted had been treated in these areas. Liz and David Roberts took their son into the Whittington Hospital in north London with a stomach ache in July 2024. The toddler spent nine hours in the busy A&E and the family say most of that was spent in a corridor. In his final hours Liz even had to administer a rectal suppository to critically ill Finlay while sitting on a chair in the public area. Liz said: “If you think about the reality of that, I removed his nappy in a public space, in full view of everyone, to administer medicine that he needed. He was, as we know now, gravely unwell, just hours from his death.” Finlay was sent home at around 1am, but hours later his mother found him in the bed next to her, not breathing. An inquest found routine medical observations were not carried out, and there were communication failures. The coroner said that different hospital care that night would have given Finlay “a chance” of survival. Liz said: “It's very, very difficult for us to accept that - to live with that reality.” Dad David Roberts said: “Being on the chair for hours and hours in the corridor, it's not exactly what killed him, but it's just perfectly emblematic of a broken system, not breaking - fundamentally broken. If kids who are in that degree of need, if they're just sitting on their parent in the corridor.. this is a broken system.” 'Corridor care is always unacceptable' It comes after the Mirror reported the findings of a review that suggested overcrowded A&Es may be causing more than 1,000 deaths a week. Dr Tom Roberts, an A&E consultant who carried out the research, told ITV News that the situation is “truly heartbreaking”, adding: “I don’t think it is moral that anyone spends time in a corridor - be that a 90-year-old or a one-year-old.” Liz and David Roberts now have a 10-month-old daughter, Elsie. Liz said: “We miss Finny all the time. He is the weather in which we live our lives, he is ever-present – which makes his absence so startling.” The family is fundraising for the maternity unit at University College London Hospital in Finlay’s memory. The NHS officially defines corridor care as a patient spending 45 minutes or longer in a clinically inappropriate area of an A&E or a ward. Hospital trusts have been required to collect and publicly report monthly corridor care data since May to expose and target overcrowded departments. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with Finlay's family and loved ones. No parent should ever have to go through what the Roberts family has endured. “Corridor care is always unacceptable, but it is especially so when children are involved. Children should be treated in safe, appropriate settings that protect their dignity and allow staff to provide the best possible care. "We are determined to end corridor care. We have published data for the first time to identify where pressure is greatest, and are deploying expert teams into the most challenged trusts to improve performance.” An NHS England spokesperson said: “This survey covers one of the busiest months in NHS history, is over 18 months old, and bears little resemblance to what is happening in the NHS today. “We have always been clear that corridor care is never acceptable for children and young people and since July last year have been making significant strides in rapidly reducing instances of care in inappropriate settings.” A spokesperson from Whittington Hospital said: “Our staff work tirelessly to provide safe and compassionate care in extremely challenging conditions, and we continue to take all possible steps to improve patient flow, increase capacity and reduce the need for care to be delivered in these environments. The trust extends its sincere condolences to Finlay's family.” The full report will air on ITV News at 18:30 and will also be available to watch on ITVX and the ITV News YouTube channel.