An 86-year-old grandma was forced to wait 25 hours in a hospital hallway after experiencing a suspected heart attack.
According to the New York Post, the grandma, identified as Maria Bodea, experienced the suspected heart attack at home and was rushed to St. Heller Hospital in Sutton, London, by ambulance.
However, by the time she arrived, there were no hospital beds available for her. Instead, she was forced to wait for an open room on a trolley bed in one of the hospital’s hallways for hours on end. She was one of up to 20 patients forced to wait on a trolley bed.
After 25 and a half hours, Bodea was forced to discharge herself from the hospital. She didn’t want to endure another night of being in the hallway with “no privacy.”
Bodea’s daughter Sandra Ghiurcusor, who was with her through the ordeal, also observed the hospital staff being “embarrassed” by the waiting time.
“It was like a war zone,” Ghiurcusor said. “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.”
Ghiurcusor continued by stating, “People could walk past, cleaners walk past, and there’s no privacy.”
The Patient’s Daughter Observed Hospitals Struggling With the Same Type of Circumstance
Ghiurcusor described her mother as being very frail and confused about the experience. “The matron told me it’s like this in every trust in the country,” she said. “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.”
She further stated that it’s not the doctors’ or staff’s fault. “You can see the staff are stressed and embarrassed,” she said.
Although her mother discharged herself, Ghiurcusor revealed Bodea underwent a CT scan of the head and bladder tests. She was then referred to a consultant for further testing. But after waiting 25 hours, she just couldn’t wait any longer.
Bodeas said the situation made her sad. “They were swamped. It’s just sad. I couldn’t believe I was in England,” she continued. “Even in Romania, older people wouldn’t be treated like this.”
Since leaving the hospital, Bodea has changed her medication. She was referred to another consultant for further testing.
Meanwhile, A spokesperson for Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust issued a statement about the waiting times. “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.
They then added, “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.”