Next time I'm asked if my mum should be taken to hospital, I have to give it serious consideration as it could do more harm than good. 'I never thought I would think that'

DEAR Sir Keir, it was very nice of you to wish my mum well while she was in hospital when we spoke recently during an interview about the improved construction course status at Derby College.

- The Derby Telegraph's agenda editor ZENA HAWLEY

I had mentioned it to your media person because I wanted to get the interview in early and dash off to see my mum and she obviously passed it on.

It was a shame that we didn’t have longer than a few minutes otherwise I would have told you how shocked and disappointed I was, and how I really felt about her experience in a 21st century A&E department.

So I am writing it down instead for you because it was truly awful for my family and my poor 94-year-old mum.

I have now realised that these trips to A&E should carry a Government health warning on the lines of “beware this visit could make you ‘worse as well as better”.

Your heart sinks when you know a loved one is heading for hospital because - in my experience and that of many others I have spoken to - you can expect a stay of at least 12 to 15 hours in A&E while triage, scans and some initial treatment are carried out. One receptionist told me a few months ago, without criticism or shame, she had waited for 27 hours for her mum to be taken to a ward.

If the treatment includes a ward stay, waiting for a bed can literally take days, and in the meantime, people are either left on trolleys in A&E bays or, worse, on a trolley outside a bay where they are assigned a number like 13.5 (outside of bay 13), taken to ward 101 which has such unfortunate connotations, taking into account the well-known television show, and it does feel like being consigned to the bin.

Maybe the journey to a ward could also include a stop for more medical assessment on the MAU (medical assessment unit) and if you are lucky maybe finally a bed on a ward. I know this is the case because this all happened to my mum at the Royal Derby Hospital.

I am sure the Derby hospital is not alone in the NHS family in trying to cope with a system that is outdated and unable to cope with the extreme pressure put upon it - and in that scenario only the sick will suffer most.