A mum has raged at A&E "chaos" as an eight-hour wait with her poorly daughter baby felt like scenes in a "nightclub".
Danni Pells faced a lengthy wait with six-month-old Erika, as they waited eight hours before being seen by doctors at the Children's Assessment and Treatment Unit at Leeds General Infirmary A&E.
Erika's temperature had dropped after a high fever and paramedics took them to hospital just before midnight on Saturday.
But after seeing how people were behaving and how much of a mess was left in the toilets and the waiting area in the morning, she was astonished.
Danni, 33, told LeedsLive it “was like a cattle mart” and a lack of seats saw people standing in the corridors.
And she says the adult A&E was just as bad.
While waiting to be seen, Danni claims she witnessed patients abusing nurses when they were asked to obey the one parent rule.
A man even barged into Danni and Erika after he was asked to leave by a nurse but he created a huge scene forcing security guards to step in.
The toilets were left in a "disgusting" state with urine all over the floor and the waiting area was left covered in rubbish leaving the hospital resembling “the end of a night in a night club”.
“It was a horrific night,” the business owner of Little Movers Leeds West said.
“There was just a lot of aggression from a few patients around the ward. Adult A&E was just as bad, there were lots of people being brought in by ambulances.
“We were aware A&E had been busy but it was exceptionally busy, a nurse said to me it was one of the worst nights she had seen in a while.
"There were a few accidents on the ward, a few grown ups carrying on, a lady had a breakdown which took nurses and security to calm her down which again added to the waiting time. They were dealing with that accident
“It was absolutely chaos, I appreciate how busy they were.”
Danni had taken Erika to the GP before going to the hospital as she had a high temperature but when her temperature dropped, she called 111 for help and the paramedics took the pair to be seen by a doctor.
Erika is now recovering well at home and Danni praised staff who were “extremely short staffed and overworked” for the care they received while they were there.
Sharing her experience on Leedsplace, Facebook Group, she said: “This is my 6 and a half month old daughter, who doesn't like to sleep in our arms, asleep in the waiting area of the CAT ward after 8 hours wait in A&E (7 hours waiting to see a doctor!)
“The staff on the CAT ward could not do enough to ensure we were as comfortable as can be. My daughter brought a cot, I brought coffee and biscuits, a pillow as I laid myself on those chairs, dinner, drinks etc. We spent over 6 hours in this waiting room today, but were very well looked after!
“Anybody who was in A&E last night at the LGI will know it was chaos! Paediatrics was like a cattle mart, and It wasn't helped by some adults' diabolical behaviour towards the nursing staff, when told to respect the one adult to one child rule.
“If you are one of these adults, especially the gentleman who barged into me and my daughter, almost knocking us off our feet, when you were told to leave, you want to be ashamed of yourself!
“This morning, I got to see the aftermath of the chaos, and the waiting areas and toilets were disgusting!! It was like the end of a night in a night club!
"Seems many visitors haven't any respect for our hospitals, or for the NHS staff, who are extremely short staffed and overworked!
“They did their very best, and still went above and beyond for everyone that was in their care last night, as they do every single day! Just remember, the waiting times are NOT the staff nor the hospital's fault!
“Be grateful our NHS is accessible!”
Dr Phil Wood, chief medical officer and deputy chief executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re still seeing very high attendances in our Emergency Departments (ED), particularly at weekends. This places extra pressure on our already busy teams.
"Patients with life threatening or critical illness or injury are prioritised for treatment and this means some people with clinically less urgent conditions may face longer waits.
"While we recognise that waiting in ED can be frustrating and stressful, particularly with a sick child, we will not tolerate abuse of our staff or damage to our facilities and it’s a shame that this family had to witness this behaviour.
“The vast majority of our service users are very understanding and respectful of our hardworking teams, and It’s always heartening when the remarkable efforts of our colleagues are recognised by patients and patients’ families."
