Patient, 74, waited over 36 hours in a plastic chair for hospital bed

26 January 2024 , 21:20

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The relative said her stepfather was sent in by his GP as an urgent referral due to a heart problem (Image: Daily Post Wales)

A 74-year-old heart patient was forced to wait in a plastic chair for more than a day and a half for a bed, as the hospital was described as "third world" by a relative.

According to Mrs Jones, patients were crying out in pain while others collapsed and some struggling to get food and drink at the Accident & Emergency department waiting room in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

The relative said her stepfather was sent in by his GP as an urgent referral due to a heart problem. She said: "He came in at about 11.45am on Wednesday, was seen briefly by a doctor, but was still waiting in a plastic chair in the A&E waiting room hours later."

At 6pm on Thursday, she added: "We've just been given an update on my stepdad - there's another two-day wait for a bed. That's in addition to the almost 30 hours we've already now spent in the waiting room."

She later updated that on Thursday night they moved him to an armchair in the corridor. Later on, the charge nurse managed to free a temporary bed in the A&E observation bay. "So whilst there's no ward bed for him at least he managed to sleep last night." But the wait for a ward bed goes on - making it more than 48 hours since arriving at A&E on Wednesday lunchtime.

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"No food or drinks given to patients other than a sandwich and a little cup of tea twice a day, no pillows, just a few old blankets."

Much of the wait has been difficult, according to Mrs Jones (Daily Post Wales)

NorthWales Live reported that she also branded the conditions "inhumane". She said: "To have people sitting in blue plastic chairs, with no backs, under bright lights without food or drink is inhumane. It's like a third world country."

She said the canteen was closed at night and the cups on the water and coffee machines in the waiting room ran out. The relative said she has even had to inform busy staff that two patients collapsed at reception and in the toilets during their long waits. She branded the problems as "carnage".

She said: "People have paid their National Insurance for decades and this is what they get when they are at their most frail."

Health chiefs say hospitals are under "significant and sustained pressure" and apologised; Adele Gittoes, Interim Executive Director of Operations at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “The health and social care system across Wales is experiencing significant and sustained pressure.

"This is having an impact on patient flow within our hospitals and waiting times across all three of our Emergency Departments. We are continuing to work closely with colleagues across the health and social care system, Welsh Government and the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust to identify ways to alleviate these pressures and improve the experience of our patients.

“It has been particularly challenging for urgent and emergency care across North Wales in recent days, with many patients presenting at our Emergency Departments requiring more complex care and treatment. We apologise to those patients who have experienced longer than usual waiting times, despite the best efforts of our hard working staff."

David Powell