Family ‘horrified’ over granddad’s four-day wait on hospital bed

Enya told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme her grandfather was eventually allocated a bed last Wednesday.

Before that, she said he “was sat in a chair in a hallway”.

“He wasn’t in a room or anything, he was just in a busy hallway as people ran around,” she said.

“The staff were amazing over there. The nurses were amazing. They’re just incredibly overworked.”

She said the family were upset and angry over her grandfather’s ordeal.

“He was in a lot of pain and was getting quite upset because of a lack of sleep. He was sat in a chair in complete excruciating pain. He hadn’t slept. My granddad had become delirious,” she said.

“It got to the point where it’s like you’re almost angry because you just want the best, you just want them to be able to get help and you think you’re somewhere that you can get help.”

She said her grandfather’s experience when he was in such a vulnerable position showed that change was desperately needed in the system.

Other patients, she said, were without a room in the treatment area and there was not enough space in the waiting room for people awaiting admission.

“You’re able to kind of look around and you are just sort of going, what the hell’s going on here?

“We just need funding, they have under-funded it for years,” she said.

Enya said scores of people had come forward with similar experiences after she posted about her grandfather’s time in the hospital on social media.