FAMILY’S FEARS FOR AGNES, 75, AFTER SHE TESTED NEGATIVE FOR VIRUS GRAN IS TERRIFIED SHE WILL DIE IN ‘COVID WARD’
The family of a pensioner who was rushed to hospital with a broken hip fear she may not survive – claiming she was placed in a ward with Covid-positive patients.
Agnes Hawthorn, 75, is currently a patient at the Royal Alexandra Hospital after being admitted on April 30.
Her distraught family claim she is being treated on a ward with other patients who have tested positive for the virus despite being admitted for a fractured hip.
The frail Johnstone pensioner has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and osteoporosis, and was taken to the Paisley hospital by ambulance after she fell at home.
She faced an agonising ten-hour wait for an ambulance - with one eventually turning up from Kilwinning.
When paramedics arrived, they found that Agnes had a temperature, therefore she was sent to a suspected Covid ward due to displaying one of the symptoms.
Her family say she has since tested negative for the virus but still remains in the same ward as those who have tested positive.
They now fear that she may not survive if she remains in hospital due to her existing health conditions.
Her frantic granddaughter, Siobhan
Hawthorn, say they are desperate to get her home.
Siobhan, 26, told the Express: “She is terrified that she is going to die in there.
“She keeps telling us if she doesn’t get home, she is going to come out of the hospital in a box.
“She sat waiting for an ambulance for ten hours in agony with a fractured hip, it’s no wonder she has a temperature when they eventually arrived.
“She has had one test which is negative and she now is waiting for the results of another test to come back.
“They keep moving her and now she is in a ward with people who have tested positive.
“They won’t operate on her hip and she is in a lot of pain, but there’s not much that they can do for her in hospital.
“We just want to get her home as we feel she is in more danger of getting sick if she stays in the hospital.”
Siobhan and her dad Paul, who help care for Agnes, now face an agonising wait to find out whether the beloved grandmother has the potentially deadly virus.
Agnes is classed in the extremely vulnerable category, and should be ‘shielding’ from the virus at home as she is most at risk due to having COPD.
Siobhan says they been unable to keep in contact with her due to her belongings being misplaced as she has been moved by staff a number of times.
Siobhan said: “Her phone charger has gone missing and we are not able to get another one up to her.
“We are totally cut off from her and barely know what is going on.
“She has been moved three times and every time she is moved she is getting more distressed. We just want to know what is going on so we can get her home.”
A spokeswoman from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said:
“We are working extremely hard to keep everyone who needs treatment safe during the Covid-19 emergency. There are clear planned pathways for patients who present to our hospitals with possible Covid-19.
“These pathways are designed to protect both the individual and other patients until results are known, at which time patients are admitted where their individual health care needs can be most appropriately met.
“This process required careful assessment and placement and on occasion this requires more transfers than would occur in normal times.”