The partner of man who was left laying on the floor of A&E struggling to breathe for 10 hours has slammed the ordeal as "horrendous" and called for "massive" change to the NHS.
Dave Moth, 30, from Middleton, Manchester, was rushed to hospital by his partner Becka Jackson, 30, after he began vomiting and short of breath, Manchester Evening News reports.
Concerned Becka, a transport manager, called 111 at around 9pm on June 7 and answered a series of "vague" questions before being told an out of hours doctor would call back within six hours.
To her relief they called back 40 minutes later, but Becka was left frustrated by having to answer all the same questions again and said the "really rude" doctor insisted on speaking to Dave.
"I said ‘If you listen, you can hear him being sick at the side of me'," Becka said.
But the ordeal only worsened when they were advised to visit A&E and arrived at Royal Oldham Hospital where the receptionist asked the same questions all over again for a third time.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I said, ‘I’ve asked these same questions twice, he can’t breathe, I don’t know what more you want to know’,” said Becka.
HGV mechanic, Dave was given a card to take into a corridor where some initial medical checks were done, Becka added.
But they were then left with ‘no communication whatsoever’ and endured a "horrendous" 10 hour wait while Dave lay on the floor.
She said; "If anyone said ‘I’m going to A&E in Oldham, I would say ‘don’t bother’ - one guy had been sat in a bed in a corridor for 20 hours.
“Yes, the NHS is free. Yes, we are very lucky. But, you know what, if I was that poorly I thought I’d die, I'd much rather be at home than lay on a bed in a corridor for 20 hours."
People are sat around, nobody knows where they are going because it’s not signposted very well,” she added.
“Once the checks are done you go and sit in a waiting room. One woman, quite an elderly lady, had been there six hours. She was in her pyjamas and in a lot of pain.
"As we got there, there were 10 ambulances outside A&E - I went back to my car and there was a queue of beds all the way down the corridor.”
Becka added that she does not blame the doctors, nurses or receptionists - but points the finger at ‘power mad people who look at spreadsheets and not the real world’.
While some faced lengthy waits she also hit out at seeing people leaving, having been told to take over-the-counter remedies such as paracetamol, Ibuprofen and Gaviscon - and in one case told to rest.
Becka also described how doctors were sometimes stepping over patients on the floor and ‘were huffing and puffing’ when people took time to gather themselves when they were eventually seen.
Dave was eventually seen at 8.30am the following morning after arriving at A&E just before 11pm the previous night.
He was diagnosed with a throat infection which had prompted the sickness and an asthma attack.
But since their ordeal, Becka has called for a major revamp of 111's questions and process of directing patients, or a serious increase in the availability of GP appointments.
"You can’t expect people to be in A&E and no one talking to you," she said.
"There’s just nothing, you just sit there in silence, the doctor stepping over you while you are asleep on the floor.
She added: "It’s not the staff’s fault, they are under a lot of pressure, but something needs to change, because it’s really not going in the right direction. I don’t know what the solution is, but there’s got to be something.”
David Jago, Chief Officer for Oldham Care Organisation, which runs The Royal Oldham Hospital, has responded to Rebecca’s concerns over A&E.
He said: “Like many A&Es across the country, we have seen a steep rise in the number of patients accessing our services, which is putting additional pressure on staff and causing some unavoidable waits.
"The safety of our patients is our first priority and patients are seen in order of clinical need.
"We apologise for anyone who has waited for treatment or had a poor experience during one of our busier periods and would encourage people to get in touch with our PALs team to discuss any aspect of the care they received they are not happy with.
“We’d urge everyone to help us by accessing the right services at the right time. A&E is for urgent and life threatening emergencies.
"We would encourage you to phone NHS 111 for advice on treatment if you’re not sure where to go.”
