A retired police officer was forced to lie on the floor of an A&E ward for more than five hours in “excruciating pain” as Scotland’s NHS struggles to meet soaring demand this winter.
The distressed daughter of the 65-year-old today hit out at the SNP Government and claimed it “couldn’t run a bath” after she was forced to watch her dad lie in “excruciating pain”.
Robert, from Cleland in North Lanarkshire, was taken to Wishaw University Hospital over the Christmas season after suffering from crippling abdominal pain.
But he was forced to lie on the floor for five-and-a-half hours before he was eventually offered painkillers due to a lack of beds.
His case was raised by Anas Sarwar at First Minister’s Questions today as an example of how many patients are being forced endure prolonged waiting times in A&E wards across the country.
The Scottish Labour leader told MSPs: “Our staff deserve praise, but they are being failed by this SNP Government. And it’s people across Scotland that are living the consequences of SNP failure.
“Take the example of Robert, a retired policeman from Lanarkshire. He had to attend A&E at Wishaw over Christmas due to crippling abdominal pain. Due to a lack of beds, he was forced to lie on the floor in excruciating pain for five-and-a-half hours before he was eventually given morphine and Oxycodone.
“A nurse told the family it could be worse – one patient had been waiting 50 hours for a bed.”
Sarwar continued: “Under John Swinney’s watch, Scots like Robert – who have worked all their lives – are forced to endure such painful, dangerous and humiliating circumstances.
“Doesn’t Robert’s distressed daughter sum it up best, when she said: ‘my dad gave his all for others in his career. But now I’m scared the next time something happens to him, he won’t make it through because of the mess the SNP have allowed the NHS to get into. The SNP couldn’t run a bath, let alone the NHS'”.
John Swinney apologised for the experience Robert and his family had suffered. He added: “I accept the pressure on the NHS has made the treatment of individuals very challenging and very difficult.
“People have not had the type of experience they should have had in hospital care. I acknowledge that, and I accept that. I make no attempt to deny it.
“But what I do have to say are two things. First, the level of demand and pressure on the health service has to be acknowledged, as a consequence of the flu outbreak. Second, members of staff have gone out of their way to do everything they could – extending shifts, contributing more than could be reasonably asked of them, to do their level best for patients.”
The SNP leader continued: “I accept in some circumstances, that will not be enough, and that won’t have been good enough for individuals.
“But we have got to acknowledge those two issues that I put to Parliament. The demand has been colossal for the NHS. And in addition to that, staff have given their all to support individuals like Robert.”
It comes after Neil Gray, the SNP Health Secretary, said this week that NHS services in Scotland were holding up well despite an “extraordinary” surge in flu cases.
Gray said there was “no doubt Scotland has been hit hard by flu this winter” adding there had been more than 1,500 people admitted to hospital in the last week because of the virus.
Official figures published this week found 1,642 Scots waited more than 12 hours to be seen at an A&E ward in the week ending December 29.
The latest figures showed 23,986 went to the emergency room for help in the week ending December 29 – with 9,983 of them there for longer than four hours.
The Record has asked NHS Lanarkshire for comment.
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