Anger over hospital wait
A RUNCORN man has slated Warrington General Hospital after he spent nearly eight hours waiting to be seen in accident and emergency (A&E).
Kevin Horne, 54, of Castle Rise, said he was admitted after his chronic back problem flared into a bout of agonising pain.
Mr Horne said his ordeal kicked off with an hour’s wait for an ambulance, and the once at the hospital he was left lying on a stretcher in the corridor for eight hours.
To make matters worse, he said he was left lying under a vent with black matter ‘pouring out’, and during his stay he believes someone stole his prescription painkillers from his bag.
Once admitted he was seen in the morning and removed from his bed for the morning rounds and fell from his chair to the ground in agony.
Mr Horne alleged that his experience was further soured by overhearing staff including nurses engaging in ‘vulgar’ banter, with one nurse referring to herself with a sexual nickname.
However, he said one nurse
● was ‘exemplary’ and he wished the others could have been more like her.
He has now complained and is awaiting a response.
Mr Horne said: “The ambulance came and where they took me to A&E, I got in there round about 11.45am.
“I never got seen till 7.30pm, and then put in a ward at about 9.45pm.
“I was in the corridor the entire period with people coughing and sneezing.
“I was directly below a vent and you could see black cr** pouring out.
“God knows what I was breathing in.
“The professionalism was abysmal.”
He added: “I’ve been to Whiston and never had any problems.
“This happens at Warrington.” Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH) said it cannot comment until its investigation into the complaint is complete.
A WHH spokeswoman said: “We can confirm have received a formal complaint from Mr Horne regarding his care at the trust.
“We are currently investigating all the points that he has raised and therefore it is inappropriate for us to comment at this time until we have completed this work.”