An 86-year-old British woman who had suffered a suspected heart attack waited 25 hours in a hospital corridor for a ward bed — before giving up and going home.
Maria Bodea had a suspected heart attack failure at home and was taken to St. Helier Hospital in Sutton, London, by ambulance.
But there were no ward beds available and the grandmother of two was put on a trolley bed in a corridor with up to 20 others, her family says.
Widow Maria and her daughter Sanda Ghiurcusor, 57, were stationed next to a door leading outside, forcing them to wear wooly hats to keep warm.
Unable to face another night in a corridor with “no privacy,” Maria discharged herself 25 and a half hours after she arrived in the hospital.
Sanda says others sleeping in the corridor said they’d been waiting there since Sunday.
She says “embarrassed” staff said the situation was the same across every trust in the country.
The medical PA from Banstead, Surrey, was keen to stress that her frustrations weren’t with the staff.
Sanda said: “It was like a war zone — it was a big line of beds next to the wall.
“We were put straight in the corridor near the automatic doors so we had cold coming in — it was a really bad night.
“People could walk past, cleaners walk past, and there’s no privacy.
“Someone else said they had been there since Sunday.
“My mum is very frail and confused now.
“The matron told me it’s like this in every trust in the country.
“It’s not like the staff is not nice, everyone does a brilliant job but the management doesn’t seem to invest in what’s needed.
“It’s not the doctors’ fault — you can see the staff are stressed and embarrassed.”
Sanda and Maria arrived in the hospital around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Maria underwent a CT scan of the head and bladder tests and was referred to a consultant for further tests Thursday, but decided she couldn’t stay another night in the corridor.
She was still in the corridor at 8 p.m. Wednesday, so she discharged herself then.
Sanda, who is originally from Romania, said the situation in the hospital made her “sad.”
She added: “They were swamped. It’s just sad. I couldn’t believe I was in England.
“Even in Romania, older people wouldn’t be treated like this.”
Maria had some medication changed before leaving the hospital and she’s been referred to another consultant for further tests.
A spokesperson for Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said:
“While we always do our best for our patients, these are not the conditions we want to care for them in and we are really sorry that Mrs. Bodea did not have a good experience.
“When our services are exceptionally busy, as they are at the moment, we sometimes have to care for people in other areas of the hospital until a suitable bed becomes available — this is always only a temporary measure and patients are supervised by clinical teams at all times.”
