A father-to-be claims his pregnant fiancée had to lie on a makeshift bed on the floor while she waited 18 hours in A&E.
The 26-year-old, who does not wish to be identified, said he visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead with his partner, who is six weeks pregnant, after she began to suffer from stomach pain.
He said his 27-year-old fiancée was initially told she had a stomach bug before further tests revealed she had appendicitis. He claims they were told they would need to remain in the waiting room for a couple of hours.
Read more: Family of couple who fled from Ukraine war 'horrified' at mould in their Gateshead home
The factory worker, who lives in Whickham, Gateshead, said they arrived at A&E at around 7pm on Friday night and his partner was not given a bed in the trauma room until 1pm on Saturday afternoon.
He said it took until 8pm on Saturday night - 25 hours later - for the woman, who works as a college teacher, to get a bed on a ward.
A spokesperson for Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust said that the A&E department "is currently extremely busy" and patient care needs to be prioritised to treat those in a life-threatening condition.
The man said he was forced to create a makeshift bed for his partner, who was vomiting during the night, on the floor, as sitting on a seat was too painful for her. He said it took two hours for her to be given pain relief.
He told ChronicleLive: "It's disgraceful, it shouldn't have happened. She was upset, she was crying and she was being sick. They could have done more to help.
"There was no duty of care. We just felt like we were getting forgotten about. No-one really gave us any information, no-one really told us what was going on. No-one seemed to care.
"I was frustrated, I was angry and I was disappointed about the fact it was happening. I had to make a makeshift bed on the floor for her with my backpack and my coat as a pillow. She wanted to lie down as she was more comfortable on the floor than on the seats."
The man said his partner initially visited her doctor about the stomach pain and was told to go to A&E to be checked out. He said they are both first time parents and they were worried about their baby.
The man said the A&E department was busy but not completely full. He said that he had to ask on several occasions to get some pain relief for his partner.
He said: "She had to wait two hours for pain relief. On one occasion, I asked the nurse who was walking past who said 'You’ll have to ask someone else, I’m on my break.'
"Two nurses came across and did a tea and coffee run. We were sat there thinking - should you not be treating patients - not doing tea and coffee?"
A spokesperson for Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust said: "While we cannot discuss the circumstances of an individual’s care due to patient confidentiality, we would like to strongly reassure patients, as well as their families that we have robust processes in place to ensure patients are cared for whilst at the hospital and patient safety remains our top priority.
"However, like many other NHS organisations, A&E is currently extremely busy and we are reminding the public to only use accident and emergency and 999 if their condition is life threatening so we can prioritise those who are most poorly."
Read more:
