I was left on hospital trolley for 15 hours due to over-crowding, claims frail heart patient

Roger Barry, 73, told how staff shunted patients around "like queuing trains" as they waited to be seen in the A&E department.

The retired carpet weaver, who had a quadruple heart bypass and now suffers from angina, dialled 999 after collapsing of a suspected heart attack on February 2.

He was initially forced to wait seven hours before being seen by a doctor. But he was forced to wait a further eight hours on a trolley in a corridor of the A&E department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital because there was no cardiologist working until the following morning.

Despite his condition, Mr Barry, from Stourport-on-Severn, was told he could not leave his trolley and had to go to the toilet in a plastic bottle in front of dozens of other patients and medics. After having two blood tests and a chest X-ray he was eventually told he had not suffered a heart attack and was allowed home.

Mr Barry, who has two grown-up daughters and three grandchildren, criticised NHS cut-backs and warned the situation in hospitals was "at absolute breaking point."

He said: "I could not believe how myself and more elderly people were forced to wait on trolleys like trains queuing up against each other. There was no dignity.

"I don't blame the staff, the poor nurses were dashing about like no one's business and they told me it was like this seven days a week.

"I was put on a trolley at the back of the queue with 12 other trolleys in front of me in the corridor and very gradually it got to my turn.

"I asked a nurse if I could go to the toilet but she said because of my condition there was no one to help me so she handed my wife a plastic bottle and said I'd have to use that.

"I was very uncomfortable about it but I had to place the bottle under the blanket in order to urinate.

"There were lots of patients, doctors and visitors everywhere. I found the whole experience quite traumatic – it's no way to run a health service."

Chris Tidman, deputy chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are very sorry to hear the concerns raised by Mr Barry.

"We can confirm that Mr Barry was seen by an A&E consultant within an hour of arriving in A&E and then assessed by our doctors and nurses on a number of occasions before seeing a medical consultant the next morning, after which he was discharged.

"In common with many hospitals across the country, we have recently seen a marked increase in the amount of patients visiting A&E, as well as significant delays in discharging patients to other healthcare settings when they are medically fit.

"When demand is at its highest, patients are assessed on trolleys in the corridor in A&E to avoid them being assessed in an ambulance outside the department.

"We would like to reassure patients and their families that A&E is fully staffed to ensure the safety of patients in our care."