Boy, four, spends night on hospital floor lying on a pile of coats because of beds shortage after being admitted with suspected pneumonia as it emerges one-fifth of patients have to wait in A&E for more than TWELVE hours
- Jack Williment-Barr taken to Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance last week
- However he was then left in a clinical treatment room as there were no beds
- He spent the night lying on a pile of coats, attached to an oxygen mask
- The department was experiencing its busiest week since April 2016
A four-year-old boy had to lie on a hospital floor for hours with an oxygen mask after being admitted for suspected pneumonia.
Jack Williment-Barr was taken to Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance last week only to be left in a clinical treatment room as there were no beds.
He spent the night lying on a pile of coats, attached to an oxygen mask, while the department was experiencing its busiest week since April 2016.
Jack Williment-Barr (pictured) was taken to Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance last week only to be left in a clinical treatment room as there were no beds
Mother Sarah Williment, a primary school assistant from Leeds, described the situation as a ‘crisis’. She said: ‘[Jack] spent eight-and-a-half hours in A&E… Jack wasn’t provided with a bed on a ward until 13-and-a-half hours later.’
Jack was eventually diagnosed with influenza A and tonsillitis.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock thanked ‘tireless’ hospital staff, adding: ‘Leeds has been allocated £600million of funding as part of our commitment to build 40 new hospitals.’
One-fifth of patients in A&E must wait more than 12 hours for a bed, experts claim
More than 1 in 20 patients who went to A&E last week waited at least 12 hours for a bed, experts have claimed.
All patients are supposed to be seen within a target of four hours, but thousands are being ‘stranded on a trolley in a corridor’ as the NHS faces its worst winter crisis in history.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) analysed data from 50 A&E departments which provide around one third of the UK’s acute hospital beds.
More than 1 in 20 patients who went to A&E last week waited at least 12 hours for a bed, experts have claimed (file image)
Its report shows in the first week of December, some 5,171 of the 103,099 patients who attended these hospitals were stuck in A&E for more than 12 hours.
Only 68 per cent of patients were seen within the target of four hours – the worst performance on record and 10 per cent lower than the same point last year.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured) said: ‘Our hospitals are treating a record number of people, and with increasing demand we are putting a record £33.9billion extra funding into our NHS’
In recent days there has been chaos at A&E departments, with dozens of ambulances queuing outside hospitals because hospital beds were unavailable.
The crisis was made worse by a norovirus outbreak that closed more than 1,100 beds last week.
The RCEM’s Dr Katherine Henderson said: ‘Many patients are now getting often life-changing news while stranded on a trolley in a corridor.
‘This cannot be right, and we must strive to put an end to ‘corridor care’. We are clearly in the worst state we’ve ever been in as we enter the true winter season.’
Monthly NHS figures showing the scale of the crisis will be released on Friday.
But the RCEM warns NHS reports do not reflect the true scale because A&E waiting times are measured from when a decision is made to admit a patient, rather than when they arrived.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘Our hospitals are treating a record number of people, and with increasing demand we are putting a record £33.9billion extra funding into our NHS.’