Yesterday I went to visit a friend who'd been admitted to hospital, again.
I went to our brand new purpose built super duper incredible new A&E department and what I saw shocked me.
There were people queuing up outside, sat on plastic chairs out in the cold, waiting to be called in. Every available seat in the reception/triage area was taken. An alert went out asking people accompanying the sick to stand so that patients could sit.
I asked at reception, having stood there for 10 minutes, where my friend was and I was given the piece of paper you see below. I didnt really understand at first.
I walked through into the rest of the department and as I made my way to Majors, I passed through multiple corridors.
In EVERY corridor beds were end to end, full of patients, people suffering, in need of help. Every room was full, so they were being left in the hallways, so many and to such and extent that they needed a proper ticketing system to keep track of all the patients abandoned there.
There was no dignity, they didn't even have screens around the people, they were just laying there, helpless, their suffering on display for everyone to see.
It's really quite disgusting. One small A&E to serve the needs of over half a million people.
The NHS is in an appalling state, really.
