A great grandmother with dementia was forced to spend 48 hours sleeping in a hospital corridor after suffering a fall at home.
Louisa Gilbert, 89, who has terminal lung cancer, waited for a space to become free in the A&E department of William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, for two days.
Distressing photos show the elderly woman pushed right up against a hospital desk on December 11, with zero privacy from other patients and visitors.
Surrounding beds filled with sick patients lined the emergency unit’s corridors in scenes compared to a ‘warzone’ by fearful relatives, KentOnline reported.
East Kent Hospitals Trust was ranked among the six worst in the country for eight months in a row – with some reporting 12-hour ‘trolley waits’.
The NHS is busier than it has ever been going into winter, with a surge of flu and norovirus heralding the start of a ‘quad-demic’, health leaders warned this month.
The numbers in hospital with flu is more than four times higher than this time last year.
And with Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) also circulating, nursing representatives say there is ‘barely a spare bed in the NHS’ – leaving staff ‘desperately worried’.
Louisa Gilbert, 89, (pictured) who has terminal lung cancer, lies next to a hospital desk for two days while waiting for a space to become free in a ward
Distressing photos show the elderly woman waiting for a space to become free, with no privacy from other patients and visitors
It comes as an average of 96,587 hospital beds in England – around 95 per cent – were occupied each day earlier this month. It is the highest figure on record for the time of year.
Of those in hospital each day, 1,099 were flu patients, including 39 in critical care – compared with 243 this time last year, with nine in critical care.
Concerns had been raised over a ‘triple-demic’ of flu, RSV and Covid-19. But after an 86 per cent annual rise in norovirus cases in hospitals, the service has been warned to brace for a ‘quad-demic’.
There were around 756 patients in hospital each day last week with norovirus, 1,390 with Covid and 142 children with RSV.
Patients fill a hospital corridor while waiting for a space to become available in a ward
NHS England medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: ‘With rising cases of norovirus, this could fast become a ”quad-demic”.’
East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust covers hospitals in Ashford, Margate, Canterbury, Deal and Dover.
A spokesperson for the trust said: ‘We are sorry that Ms Gilbert experienced a long wait for a bed and we apologise to all patients who are waiting for a long time in our emergency departments.
‘While we do all we can to ensure all patients receive timely care, our emergency departments are experiencing exceptionally high levels of demand with winter illnesses such as flu and Covid.’