'Horrific' scenes in A and E - woman describes 80 year old dad's 40 hour wait in hospital corridor

A woman has described 'horrific' conditions in A&E claiming her 80-year-old father was forced to wait 40 hours in a corridor for a hospital bed at Arrowe Park on the Wirral.

Colin Gray's daughter Kirsty rushed 250 miles from her home in Hampshire when he was taken to the hospital after becoming ill on 30 December.

Colin had a pacemaker fitted to his heart last November and was admitted to Arrowe Park after becoming unwell with shortness of breath and fatigue.

When she arrived at the hospital to be with her dad Kirsty was horrified by what she saw.

She said: "It was horrific in that A&E department, it was absolutely rammed. There were 15 ambulances queuing up outside and lots of paramedics who couldn't hand their patients over. There were long queues of people in beds in the corridor."

Kirsty adds, "Mum stayed with dad all night while he was in a bed on a packed corridor. She said the staff were amazing and looked after them as well as they could, but he was there for over 40 hours in total. This was an 80-year-old man, basically shoved against a wall in a corridor who was very poorly.

"He didn't even have any monitoring equipment on him, he was just there on a bed. They just didn't have enough staff there and those who were there were doing their best but were on their knees. I can't tell you how lovely they were despite working in extremely challenging circumstances."

Colin was eventually moved from the corridor to the Acute Medical Unit, but Ms Gray said this was 'essentially just an overflow for A&E'.

Having first arrived at the hospital at around 3pm on December 30, he did not see a consultant doctor until 9pm on January 2. His full treatment would not begin for around a week in total.

A second critical incident at Arrowe Park Hospital was declared this week, and though Kirsty and her dad are full of praise for the work of the staff who cared for him, they say their experiences make them fear for the future of the nation's health service.

Kirsty said: "Dad was in was in hospital for a week before any proper treatment was done. He was exhausted and angry at the state of the NHS. He was really upset to see the staff members working in these circumstances."

Kirsty said she has made complaints to the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust and its chief executive Janelle Holmes, asking for a meeting about how the trust is dealing with the current situation.

Like many hospitals in the Merseyside region, Arrowe Park is under huge pressure at present with soaring flu cases. The trust that runs the hospital was forced to declare a critical incident last weekend as it struggled to safely deliver care amid the huge demand.

Having stood that incident down, the trust declared a second critical incident on Wednesday due to what it said was 'unprecedented demand'. Earlier in the week, the Royal Liverpool Hospital also declared a critical incident.

In a statement a Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson said: “As with other trusts, our Emergency Department has experienced unprecedented demand with high numbers of patients self-presenting and arriving by ambulance. We prioritise patients in most urgent need of emergency care and unfortunately this will have meant a longer than expected wait for other patients, especially those awaiting hospital admission. There have been many patients requiring admission to hospital, including a high number of flu cases.

“We regret that this has been a difficult experience for the patient, and our senior team has been in contact with the patient and his family throughout to ensure they are fully supported, and our PALS team are following up with a formal response to the family’s concerns.

“To increase capacity, we have been working closely with our partners to discharge patients home or back into the community, as soon as they no longer require a hospital stay. Our Emergency Department remains busy at this time and we would ask the public for support.

"People are asked to please only attend the Emergency Department if they have a genuine emergency. For less urgent needs, people can contact 111, visit a walk-in centre, urgent treatment centre or contact a GP. Pharmacies can also offer assistance for many minor illnesses.”