In the new Royal Liverpool Hospital a 78-year-old man is lying on a trolley in a corridor. He's been there for two days, waiting, hoping to be moved into a bed on a ward.
The corridor full of patients on trolleys that he is lying in is a standard part of this hospital's Accident and Emergency department now. Around the corner in the designated A&E department there are scenes of desperation and chaos.
A man who has suffered a suspected stroke hasn't even made it onto a trolley. He's been waiting for 24 hours in the same chair. A woman has been given oxygen while she waits. Another is in so much pain she has decided to retreat to her car as its the most comfortable place for her to lie down.
