The disturbing picture was taken at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, where elderly patients, in particular, “looked fearful and confused” as the NHS crisis worsens
This disturbing picture captures the grim reality of the NHS crisis – as elderly patients lie in trolleys in a hospital corridor as they wait for care.
The image shows a long row of trolleys, each occupied with a patient, in a crowded corridor at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent. Bed bays at the hospital’s A&E department was full at the time and so a lengthy queue had backed up.
The Royal College of Nursing told us this month scenes like this are “becoming the norm” as similar pictures emerged from other facilities, including Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital. Yet, research shows patients are more likely to die within a month if they spend more than half a day waiting in A&E.
Samantha Howes, 38, took her daughter to William Harvey Hospital this month and was shocked at the chaos in the corridor. Samantha, who is a carer, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it. It makes you emotional. A lot of these elderly folk looked fearful and confused. Some were being treated as people walked past. A few had their legs sticking out. Where’s the dignity in that?”
Mum-of-two Samantha estimated around 15 people were waiting on trolleys in the corridor she encountered. She told The Sun: “There were sick people everywhere. Even the children’s A&E waiting room was full. I feel for the nurses. They’re overworked and stressed. But it’s disgusting that people must wait in these conditions.”
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust apologised for the delays, blaming “high demand”. It is not alone, however, as there were 43,000 12-hour A&E waits a month on average last year compared with 8,272 for the whole of 2019.
A Royal College of Nursing poll of 5,000 frontline staff found two-thirds treat patients in non-medical areas every day. Offices, cupboards and car parks are being used. Patients are dying in waiting rooms and public areas due to delays.
The research comes after a man in a wheelchair suffered a cardiac arrest and died in a London hospital – when the A&E unit was so crammed doctors were unable to reach and resuscitate him. A nurse there last week gave a harrowing testimony into the conditions in which they work.
