The granddaughter of a woman in her 90s who is facing a protracted wait in A&E for an operation on her broken hip says the situation is a disgrace.
Speaking to Belfast Live anonymously, for fear it might affect her granny's treatment, the woman said her granny may have to wait over a week for the operation.
The 94-year-old has been at the Royal Victoria Hospital since Sunday night and was only moved to a bed on a ward on Tuesday night.
Read more: Belfast A&E warning as patients waiting up to 18 hours in emergency departments
The woman told Belfast Live that her granny fell in her kitchen on Sunday night and faced an hour's wait in the ambulance before getting admitted to A&E.
She said there were then issues trying to make staff aware of her grandmother's pre-existing conditions.
"I must have said it about 100 times, my granny has dementia," she said.
"They didn't seem to get this - my granny was put in the middle of a room bunged with other people.
"They tried to put pain relief into her and the next thing it was going all round me and my granny, as her vein had collapsed, so they gave her co-codamol orally.
"She's 94-year-old, she has a broken hip - another nurse was absolutely disgusted when we explained what had been done and she got the other arm and put paracetamol in through the arm."
The woman said consideration had not been given to her granny's basic needs and it was Monday night before she had a catheter inserted.
Up until then the pensioner had been forced to hold in the need to use the toilet, as she could not walk due to her broken hip.
Her granny's dementia also posed difficult problems around the medication and care she would need, with the responsibility falling to her granddaughter to try and sort it.
"Even silly wee things like, I had to take my hoodie off and fold it up for her because they didn't have any pillows for her," she said.
"I cottoned on then that she was getting none of her medication - she wasn't getting her dementia or stomach medication - because we're in A&E, they can't administer her medication.
"I phoned my granny's doctor and found out that I have to ask for the main consultant, as apparently they can send down a card to A&E where they can administer my granny's medication."
She said that having got her granny settled on Monday night, she returned to see her in an awful state on Tuesday morning.
"I've never seen a 94-year-old woman neglected like that," she added.
"They had the bed flat, she had pulled the drip thing out of her arm, so she was covered in blood.
"The covers were off her and because of her age they obviously had a nappy on her and it was way down her legs.
"And when I looked at the table, her lunch was there - I went round and it was freezing.
"So she had no breakfast or lunch in her, because you would have needed to get out of the bed and go over to the corner to get what was left on the table for her."
As it stands, her granny has been moved to a ward while she waits to see if a slot for an operation might open up.
"I think it's important for my granny to be seen obviously, but as a human being, for anyone else in that position, I would say it's a disgrace," she said.
"For her to get her operation, it could be a week, because they've got a backlog.
"What they're doing at night is fasting her on the off chance she might be able to get the operation the next day.
"I know that's procedure, but it's awful for her to have to go through.
"I know they're rushed off their feet and I have every sympathy for NHS staff, but something has to be done, it's ridiculous.
"I haven't been able to go into work because I'm worried about her not getting fed and I'm going up to feed her and make sure she gets her medication."
The Belfast Trust said it was "very sorry" to hear about the experience the elderly patient had gone through.
"We take all complaints about the standard of our care very seriously and we fully appreciate the concerns raised," a spokesperson said.
"Unfortunately, we continue to experience extreme pressure in our Emergency Departments which is leading to long waits to be seen and also for admission to hospital.
"Our staff are doing the best they can for patients in extremely difficult circumstances.
"Belfast Trust takes patient care extremely seriously and would ask anyone with concerns to not hesitate in contacting us."
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