NHS: Woman, 90, forced to wait three days in A&E chair

A 90-year-old woman with suspected sepsis was forced to spend three days sitting in a chair in A&E.

Morwen Griffiths, from Ceredigion, was advised to go to hospital after she woke up with breathing difficulties and a high temperature.

When she arrived at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, there were no beds available.

Hywel Dda health board said patients were experiencing longer waits and apologised for any distress caused.

Mrs Griffiths was taken to hospital by her granddaughter Caryl Griffiths, 27, and her family because there "weren't any ambulances".

Ms Griffiths said: "The GP wanted us to go straight to A&E with her, we were told there were no beds in her usual hospital in Aberystwyth so he said, 'I think there might be more of a chance in Glangwili in Carmarthen.'

"As soon we arrived... I'm basically speechless still trying to explain the situation of seeing 10 standstill ambulances and the A&E room absolutely packed."

Mrs Griffiths had low oxygen levels but her granddaughter said she was sat on a chair in the emergency unit for three days.

"It was a surreal, surreal situation," she said.

"It was just patients literally behind each other on the corridor, people in front of the toilets, people just queuing anywhere you could find some room.

"To watch someone as ill and as close to me as my mamgu going through it, it was tragic."

Despite their wait, Ms Griffiths said the nurses were "excellent".

Last week, senior NHS staff were advised by the Welsh government to discharge people who are well enough to leave hospital, even without a package of care but doctors warned some patients could die if this guidance was followed.

The Welsh government said discharging patients could help them get better "by reducing the risk of infection and muscle wastage" and only people who were fit to leave would be discharged.

"We have already made more than 500 extra community beds and packages of care available this winter to help discharge people from hospital, and are working on delivering more," a spokesman said.

Ms Griffiths said she and her family have been supporting Mrs Griffiths since she was discharged and have been promised help from Red Cross volunteers.

"Obviously, we're more than happy to help, so we have to go up to see mamgu three times a day," she added.

Hywel Dda health board said: "We are sorry to hear of Mrs Griffiths' experience and of the distress this will have caused her and her family."

It said it could not comment on individual cases, but encouraged her family to contact patient support.