'Frightened' woman aged 96 cries after 40-hour ordeal on hospital trolley

A 96-year-old woman with pneumonia spent 40 hours lying on a trolley in a cold hospital corridor because of a shortage of beds and staff - prompting calls for the Scottish government to invest in social care.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP, who is also a practicing NHS doctor, highlighted the plight of the 96-year-old in the Scottish Parliament.

‘Frightened and crying’

Speaking on 28 September, during a debate on NHS waiting times in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Gulhane told MSPs: “Yesterday evening I spoke to Norrie. Norrie’s mother is 96 and has pneumonia.

“Norrie’s mum was taken to her Ayrshire hospital A&E department last Thursday at 8 o’clock.

“The department was incredibly busy, too busy. Still, Norrie’s mum was triaged within 90 minutes. The staff were clearly doing their very best – but let’s face it, they can’t conjure up more nurses or hospital beds. And there were no spare beds – none at all.

Imagine ‘if this happened to your own granny or mum?’

“Norrie’s mum spent 40 hours on a trolley, in a busy corridor, cold and beside automatic doors that opened and closed every couple of minutes.

“Norrie’s mum was frightened and crying, she was breathless and disorientated.

“All alone because family were not allowed to be with her.

“On Saturday afternoon, 40 hours after she first presented, she was moved to the clinical assessment unit – where she is now. Can any of us imagine how we would feel if this happened to our own granny or mum?

“And Norrie really knows about healthcare, he’s been a GP for 40 years, and he cannot accept that this is what awaits his patients and his family. Norrie says sadly his mum’s experience is not an exception.”

Too many people waiting for care packages

One patient spent 84 hours in A&E in Ayrshire earlier this year - revealing the harsh reality inside Scotland’s hospitals which face a shortage of hospital beds. Two weeks ago, almost 1,000 patients waited longer than 12 hours in Scottish A&E units.

In July, an average of 1,806 hospital beds a day were occupied by people whose discharge from hospital was delayed mainly because they were waiting for social care packages. On average they spent 52 days in hospital after they were fit to leave.

The emergency ward at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, is meant to care for 40 patients, but was on average at 200 per cent overcapacity throughout the whole of August. Figures published by the Scottish Conservatives following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, show that the busiest day was 15 August, when the hospital’s A&E department was over capacity by 104 patients.

Dr Gulhane also said “nearly 70 per cent of nurses in Scotland feel that patient care was compromised on their last shift due to staffing levels”.

Situation 'getting worse'

“The situation has been getting worse in 2022 not better, despite the pandemic receding.”

Dr Gulhane tabled a motion highlighting to the Scottish Government that Parliament is ‘concerned by the length and scale of NHS waiting times; recognises that the root cause of this problem is a lack of beds in NHS hospitals, regrets, therefore, that the Scottish Government is focussed more on structural reform than building greater capacity into the social care system’'

The motion also stated: 'The NHS Recovery Plan is failing to have a demonstrably positive impact on waiting times, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to rewrite its NHS Recovery Plan ahead of this winter.’

In response, Scotland’s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf (SNP) admitted Scotland’s A&E waiting time statistics were "not acceptable”. Mr Yousaf said: “While I absolutely accept we still face challenges due to the effects of the pandemic, let me praise our NHS staff and social care staff for the incredible, passionate care they provide for the people of Scotland day in and day out.”

Scottish Care backs campaign for focus on social care

The Scottish Government has stated that its 11 National Outcomes describe the kind of Scotland it wants to create with specific goals. It is about to review its National Outcomes for the first time in five years.

Scottish Care, which represents care providers, is among the organisations urging the Scottish Government to create a dedicated 'National Outcome on Care' to drive investment in care across Scotland.

To highlight the campaign, Scottish Care (@ScottishCare) tweeted: ‘Care has been undervalued and underfunded for too long. Those who rely on, or provide care, are paying the price. That’s why we’re asking @scotgov for a new National Outcome on #care.'

Scottish Care is urging the public to support a new campaign to make Scotland a more caring country by writing to Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the leader of every political party in the Scottish Parliament to explain why investing in social care is important, and why it matters to you.

A spokesman for Alzheimer’s Scotland said: “We believe that care and carers have been undervalued for too long. It’s time our politicians put care at the heart of their priorities for Scotland. We need your help to show that #ScotlandCares, join the call”.

You can ‘join the call’ to back the campaign by visiting www.ascotlandthatcares.org.