'Years ago, you felt safe in hospital. Now you don't, you feel totally frightened'

New report reveals 'heartbreaking' stories of elderly patients left to languish, uncared for, in hospital corridors for hours

- REBECCA THOMAS

Elderly patients have been left languishing in their own excrement and puddles of urine for hours on end in NHS hospitals, a major charity has said.

Corridor care is a “crisis in plain sight” in A&Es across the country, charity Age UK warned ministers, as it described “truly shocking” incidents of poor care of elderly people waiting days on end for attention.

In a report, published today, Age UK revealed “heartbreaking” incidents of poor care, including a woman dying from a heart attack after being left to wait; a patient who was “lost” after being put on a disused corridor; and a man left hooked up to an IV drip in a chair for 20 hours, who soiled himself because he was unable to get to the toilet.

People told the charity about “puddles of urine” on the floor as immobile patients are unable to go to the toilet, and patients are being forced to use bedpans in corridors.

Another person said their 86-year-old family member was “stuck in a disused corridor for 36 hours” while “staff kept saying he hasn’t been admitted by the ambulance crew”. A 79-year-old woman from south London told the charity: “The corridors were lined with patients on trolleys, hooked up to drips, some moaning in pain. It reminded me of war films, with queues of stretchers and people suffering.”

Age UK warned that many patients are unwilling to go to A&E, even if they are in a life-threatening situation, because of their past experiences. It called on the government to “urgently” tackle corridor care as it warned that older people are disproportionately affected.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: “What’s happening to some very ill older people when they come to A&E is a crisis hiding in plain sight which the government must face up to and take immediate action to resolve.