An OAP was left slumped in a hospital waiting room chair for 12 hours after collapsing at home.
Shocking photos show retired carer and mum-of-three Wendy Parsons at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, waiting for a bed following the fall and bang to the head.
The 82-year-old had been discharged from the hospital the previous afternoon, having been admitted with a suspected infection, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Wendy's son Roger - who has been staying with his mum - found her lying on the floor at her home in Wallasey in the early hours of Wednesday.
Daughter Colette Clarke has accused the hospital of giving the pensioner an "unsafe discharge" during her visit earlier in the week.
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Wendy was admitted last Saturday (January 15) feeling "completely zonked out" and appearing confused, her daughter said.
With her infection markers having reduced, she was allowed to go home on Tuesday evening but was up all night.
Collette said Roger found their mum on the floor around 6am the following day.
"The room looked like a tornado had been through it, I think she had thrown everything around in her confusion," she explained.
Collette, who lives nearby, went on to say her mum is "very blasé" about her health despite suffering with arthritis, COPD and heart failure.
But was "nowhere near her baseline" when staff allowed her to leave the hospital hours earlier.
It became clear Wendy had suffered a bang to her head, which later developed into a large bruise.
Colette drove her mum to A&E later that morning as she seemed delirious.
Wendy was taken for CT scans and an X-ray but then was sent back to the waiting room until midnight before a bed became available, she said.
Colette said it is "a disgusting way" to treat an elderly woman with multiple ailments.
She praised those staff who saw her mum, calling them "fantastic" but said she has concerns about the length of time she had to wait considering how frail she is.
She questioned why the A&E facilities went through a "£20m+ upgrade when they don't have the staff to manage the space they have?"
In a recent inspection by healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC), concerns were raised about the way patients were dealt with in the hospital's emergency department.
The report noted there were not always enough staff to care for patients and not all those available had training in key skills required or could always "identify and quickly act upon patients at risk of deterioration".
A spokesperson for Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust said: "We endeavour to ensure we provide patients with the best possible care in our hospitals and while we can’t discuss details of individual patients, we can offer assurance that we have robust processes in place to ensure patients are discharged safely.
"Each patient is thoroughly assessed and provided with a care plan on discharge.
"Like other Trusts nationally we are experiencing an extremely busy period in our Emergency Department and we therefore prioritise those patients who are in the most urgent need of care which regretfully can mean a longer wait for some of our other patients.
"Our Senior Nursing Team will be in contact with the family to offer support, investigate their concerns and ensure that any lessons are learnt to improve patient experience."
