Hospital 'sorry' for pensioner's wait

Mary Smith

Rochdale Infirmary has apologised after a frail pensioner was forced to wait hours for an emergency bed.

Mary Smith, 82, from Rochdale, suffered a fall at 9.30 Saturday morning (17 January) and had to wait four and a half hours for her GP to come out, two hours for an ambulance and then seven hours for a bed at Rochdale Infirmary.

Mary, who suffers from arthritis and currently has shingles, an infection of the nervous system, was one of 200 patients admitted over the weekend who had to wait hours for a bed.

Mary’s daughter said: “The emergency department is at crisis point, it cannot get much worse than this; there were no beds anywhere.

"I felt so sorry for the staff who were blatantly run off their feet trying to deal with everyone.

“She is 82 years old and very poorly, this is not the sort of service you would expect."

A spokesman for Pennine Acute Trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary said: “We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to this elderly lady when she arrived at Rochdale Infirmary.

“Rochdale Infirmary experiences busy periods on most weekends and last weekend was no exception.

“This was caused by a very large number of admissions, and although the Trust did open extra beds, and call in extra staff, it was a very difficult situation to manage.

“We would advise people not to attend A&E unless it really is an accident or emergency, we would ask them to see their GP, a pharmacist or visit a drop-in centre where appropriate."