“She was somebody’s loved one. No words will mend this”
Arrowe Park Hospital(Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
People have argued the NHS is at a “breaking point” after it was revealed a woman died alone in a corridor of a Merseyside hospital. Staff in Arrowe Park Hospital’s emergency department have told the ECHO it is overrun with patients who they can’t treat appropriately.
The hospital is run by the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust (WUTH), who said the hospital’s A&E department is experiencing “extremely high demand”, with the numbers of people attending 30% higher than expected at this time of year. Daily attendances are in excess of 330, peaking at 370 on certain days in December.
One staff member said she and her colleagues were “distraught” as a woman was placed on a trolley and died alone in the corridor. The staff member said the incident is “bound to happen again” and patients are “being failed”.
Speaking more generally about the winter within the department, an A&E staff member described the situation as “absolutely awful”. They said there isn’t enough staff to look after the amount of people in corridors.
Staff said in a bid to address the critical situation, hospital bosses have opened a new medical ward within the department, but they said this has actually just stretched exhausted staff even more.
The stress of the situation in the emergency department has led to many senior and qualified staff members being off with work-related stress, meaning there is an increasing reliance on newly qualified and agency staff.
In the comments section of the ECHO’s Facebook page, many offered their condolences to the woman who died. Caroline Andrews said: “Shocking and disgusting, that’s somebody’s mum/ nan/auntie.
“We wouldn’t leave our pets at the end of life to die alone. She wasn’t just a ‘woman, she was somebody’s loved one. No words will mend this.”
Paulette Williams said: “It’s been going on for years. It’s now at a crisis point that needs addressing but it’s still falling on deaf ears. So sorry this lady had to pass in such an undignified manner, may you RIP now and sleep peacefully.”
Anne Marie Place said: “That is so disgusting, that poor woman dying all alone without even seeing a doctor. Like myself, she would remember when the NHS was great and the envy of the world.”
Many who had visited hospitals themselves recently were sympathetic to the staff too. Rebecca La Mattina, who took her dad into a hospital after a seizure earlier this week, said: “I saw the patients lining the corridors and a nurse tending to them the best they could. It was heartbreaking to see.
“The staff on his ward looked exhausted also, buzzers going off, patients getting out of bed and wandering, patients’ families asking for updates.
“My heart is with them – as you can see they are at breaking point. I hope things can get better, and my utter condolences to the lady’s family who has passed away.”
Sue Bennett added: “I unfortunately had to visit A&E a while ago- while being triaged by a doctor, a nurse came into the room to ask the doctor something. She completely broke down and said how she couldn’t cope and was exhausted. The doctor insisted she take a break.
“She replied she couldn’t as she had far too much to do with her patients. This should never have happened in front of a patient but the nurse was obviously at breaking point.”
Some argued that seeing their GP and walk-in centres should be better resourced to take the pressure off A&E departments.
John Ellis said: “This is a really tragic story, but if people used the accident and emergency instead of a day out and if walk in centres could deal with more people walking in the door instead of sending them to A&E then may be the waiting time would be less and more staff to deal with people being admitted.
Staff at Arrowe Park Hospital(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Some said the government should be held accountable. Tracy Clarke said: “The government needs to do more. This is beyond disgraceful!
“Maybe there should be urgent care options 24 hours, maybe increase GP provision over weekends, maybe even provide a private A&E option for those who can to take the pressure off – we can not accept this horrendous service when people are at their most vulnerable!
Sophie Hardie, who said she worked in a healthcare on Merseyside, said: “We try our hardest and as much as I agree corridor care shouldn’t happen but it does and we try our hardest to look after our patients.
“It’s the government who has made it get to this stage where unfortunately people feel neglected and in some cases pass away. The government needs to sort their act together and I can guarantee the public will see a better NHS.”
Others said these stories show that other A&E departments should have stayed open. Clatterbridge Hospital and St Helens Hospital used to have an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, but they both closed decades ago.
Jayne Jj said: “Wirral needs another hospital, it’s not hard to see. There used to be an A&E at Clatterbridge years ago. They need to do something to either build another hospital or they need to re-structure the Clatterbridge site and bring an A&E department back there.”
Lorraine Barton added: “We have an excellent hospital in St Helens but no A&E makes no sense! The original hospital was smaller but had one!”
The Wirral University Teaching Hospital trust said that ensuring patients receive safe care is its “top priority” and that its staff are working “exceptionally hard during an extremely busy time.”
A spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, this has resulted in longer waits and at times, patients being cared for on the corridor which is a challenge experienced across the NHS.
“To support this, we have opened extra beds and wards across the hospital with the appropriate staffing in place. Importantly this enables us to release ambulance crews back into the community to respond to the additional demand.
“As safety is our top priority, we actively encourage staff to raise incident forms to report challenges, concerns or areas of good practice, and all incidents are investigated with appropriate action and any learning taken.
“Our teams dynamically monitor demand and staffing levels in the department and across the site with senior nursing and medical oversight.
“We are working hard with all other health care partners to both discharge patients who no longer require our care and navigate appropriate patients to alternative healthcare settings where their needs may be better served, and to improve patient flow through the hospital helping to reduce waiting times in the Emergency Department.”
The spokesperson added: “To ensure we are able to focus on those patients in most urgent need, we urge people to only attend the Emergency Department if they have an emergency.
“At this time of year, it is also important that the public are caring for their health and wellbeing by having their vaccinations, staying warm and hydrated and also looking out for vulnerable people.”