Pensioner, 91, spends 39 HOURS on trolley at A&E
Mrs Harrison was among the patients lined up along a University Hospital of North Staffordshire corridor when a Sentinel reader photographed the chaotic scene on November 26. That time she spent nine hours in the corridor and less than two months later she was back again for a 30-hour trolley wait.
The first A&E visit happened amid fears she was suffering from hypothermia after falling at her Alsagers Bank home.
After initial checks the doctor never came and in the end her family decided to discharge the pensioner themselves.
Six weeks and five days later, on the morning of January 12, she was admitted by ambulance after another fall, with a suspected broken hip. She was placed on a trolley in a corridor where she waited for an hour to be booked in before spending three-and-a-half hours in the corridor waiting to be moved to an assessment unit, still on the trolley.
She waited in that unit until 11am the next morning to be seen by a doctor for the first time.
That Tuesday evening, she was taken on the same trolley to a holding ward where she was finally given a bed after a 30-hour wait.
Her nephew Keith Walley, aged 68, also of Alsagers Bank, said: "I am disgusted at the way the hospital has treated my aunt and all the other old people left on trolleys in the corridors."
Mr Walley's wife Christine said: "The main concern is if she goes home and topples over again.
"The first time she went to hospital, we sat there from 3pm to midnight, when they announced there had been a major trauma and it was going to be another six hours. It's horrendous."
Chief executive Julia Bridgewater later explained the hospital was working under extreme pressure on the day in question.
But Mrs Harrison's relatives couldn't believe it happened again.
Relatives say they were initially unable to find her because Mrs Harrison was not even registered for an hour.
Mrs Walley, aged 60, said: "She was in the corridor again from 10.30am until about 5pm and when I arrived after work at 6.45pm she had had nothing to eat or drink.
"She didn't see a doctor until the next day. I'm not blaming the staff: they were trying their best and they were all apologising."
Mrs Harrison has been moved to Bucknall Hospital for rehabilitation and is hoping to return home soon.
A spokesman for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire said: "Staff at the hospital are concerned to learn of the issues raised by Mrs Harrison's family.
"We are keen to meet with the family so that they can discuss their concerns directly with us, and we can investigate those issues thoroughly.
"We will, of course, share the findings of any investigation directly with them."
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