As a 92-year-old woman was left lying in a hospital corridor for 33 hours, she told her family she wanted to die.
Graeme Smith explained he was attempting to get his 92-year-old grandmother into hospital after she became unwell in her care home on New Year's Eve.
His grandmother eventually became "very distressed" and began "telling us she wanted to die".
Graeme explained: "She was very distressed after a while, she was crying and telling us she wanted to die. She was praying and asking to be taken. I've never heard her say anything like that before.
"The people in that corridor, some of them couldn't have their basic needs met because there weren't enough staff. Some couldn't get to the toilet and had soiled themselves. It was horrendous."
His grandmother arrived at the hospital at about 9pm, but a bed wasn't secured for her until 6am on January 2. Before a bed was found, she waited in a hospital corridor with "about 40 other elderly or very sick people".
The NHS is currently in the grip of a crisis with the government facing criticism over funding. One of the problems is known to be the lack of hospital beds.
Between 2010/11 and 2019/20 in England, hospital bed numbers fell by 8.3 per cent. Bed occupancy is also up from last year, only exacerbating the problem with 93 per cent bed occupancy compared to 86 per cent this time last year.
The problem directly affects staff, who are forced in some cases to try and deal with a lack of beds.
"They were all being treated as well as staff could manage," Graeme said. "But a number of them were in distress. It was horrendous, to be honest."
He added: "The staff were trying their best, they were so apologetic. They are victims of this as well... Seeing this made me angry and that anger should be directed at the government."
In the nearby Royal Liverpool Hospital, one nurse said: "My grandma is almost 89 and she was on a trolley, in a corridor, from just before midnight on December 31 until 5pm on Monday January 2 - that's 41 hours."
They added: "There is not enough staff to look after people and I think if we hadn't been there to feed and water my grandma she could have died there."
Similar problems have appeared across the country and Royal College of Emergency Medicine chief Dr Adrian Boyle warned "between 300 to 500 people are dying as a consequence of delays" each week.
Palliative care medic Rachel Clarke said: "In 14 years I’ve never known such horrific conditions. Dickensian overcrowding, total implosion."
Amid mounting pressure on the government, Health Secretary Steve Barclay blamed a high combination of flu and Covid for causing the crisis, as well as "continuing concerns, particularly among many parents around Strep A."
Government critics argue the situation has been years in the making and improper funding, patient demand, cuts to social care and local government and staffing problems are to blame.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen said: "The Government cannot blame the pandemic and other winter pressures for the unfolding crisis.
"This has been a long time in the making yet the Government has consistently ignored warnings."
