Daughter describes ‘horrific’ scenes in Merseyside Accident and Emergency department
80-year-old Colin Gray faced an agonising 40 hour wait in Arrowe Park Hospital’s A&E department
A woman has described ‘horrific’ scenes in a Merseyside hospital where her 80-year-old dad spent more than 40 hours on a bed in a corridor after falling ill. Kirsty Gray’s dad Colin had a pacemaker fitted for a heart issue last year.
On December 30 he became unwell with shortness of breath and exhaustion leading his concerned wife to call 999 for an ambulance. Ms Gray, 51, lives in Hampshire and began the 250 mile drive up after finding out that her dad had been taken into Arrowe Park Hospital’s Accident and Emergency department – where a second critical incident was declared this week.
Once she arrived, she was horrified by what she saw. She told the ECHO: “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.”
Colin was one of the many unwell people waiting on a bed in the cramped corridor. Ms Gray added: “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 an area called 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.
Ms Gray said she and her dad could not be more grateful to the staff working on the ground in the current crisis, but said their experiences make them fear for the future of the nation’s health service.
Ambulances queue up outside Arrowe Park Hospital which has declared a second critical incident in a week
The 51-year-old 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.”
Ms Gray 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 response to the ECHO, 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.”