A man with asthma was left laying on the floor of A&E struggling to breathe for 10 hours, the Manchester Evening News reports. His partner has condemned his ordeal and called for "massive" change to the NHS.
Dave Moth, 30, from Middleton in Manchester, was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital by his partner Becka Jackson, 30, after he began vomiting and was short of breath.
Becka initially called 111 at around 9pm on June 7, and said she answered a series of "vague" questions. A doctor called her back 40 minutes later - but Becka said the "really rude" doctor asked the same questions again, and insisted on speaking to Dave. She told the MEN: "I said ‘If you listen, you can hear him being sick at the side of me'."
Becka was advised to take Dave to A&E, where a receptionist asked the same questions for a third time. Becka 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’."
She said Dave was given a card and underwent initial medical checks in a corridor - but they then faced a "horrendous" 10-hour wait while Dave lay on the floor.
She explained: "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. 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 said she does not blame the doctors, nurses or receptionists - but "power mad people who look at spreadsheets and not the real world".
They arrived at the hospital just before 11pm, and Dave was eventually seen at 8.30am the following morning. He was diagnosed with a throat infection which had prompted the sickness and an asthma attack.
Becka has called for a major revamp of 111's processes, or a serious increase in the availability of GP appointments. She said: "You can’t expect people to be in A&E and no one talking to you. 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.”
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