NHS in crisis as Molly, 29, 'on Royal Stoke corridor for 25 hours...

Now Molly has lodged an official complaint

A ‘dehumanised’ patient was left in the A&E hospital corridor for ’25 hours’. Molly Roberts claims that over the most

of her week-long stay at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, she received “fantastic” treatment.

However, the 29-year-old claims she was “dehumanised” by the lack of privacy in the hallway. She was then released

to her Stafford home after spending an additional six days on a ward.

Molly has now formally complained about her encounter in the corridor.

Molly stated: “I had been throwing up blood, so I was transported to the hospital by ambulance.” My symptoms have

been bothering me for a long time. Within five to ten minutes, I was hurried in and out of the ambulance. I spent

more than twenty-four hours in “Corridor One” after being placed in a makeshift room. I knew that there was a boy

with sepsis since there was no privacy and a big queue of vulnerable people, mostly older people.

“The lady behind me had really bad dementia and she’d broken her foot and kept trying to get out of bed to find her

mum. Nurses had to keep running over and put her back in the bed. It’s really dehumanising being in that line.

“You don’t get any sleep in a hallway where nobody can pass, and you have to talk to the doctor in public, which isn’t

right and embarrassing. The nurse said, “Discharge yourself because it’ll be doing everyone a favour,” when I asked if

I might check out early. However, I refused to go and persisted, and ultimately I was seen and admitted to a ward.

Placing patients in a corridor to cut down on ambulance times is wrong. Yes, there is a nurse on duty, but she must

constantly check on patients’ vitals while standing in a large queue of unwell people with no privacy. Additionally,

she had to triage ambulances, which required her to move back and forth between the ambulances and the corridor.

“A change must be made. Since I know other people who have experienced the same thing, I’m afraid to return in

case I am stranded in the hallway once more. I am aware that neither the nurses nor the doctors are to blame.

“I was there for 25 to 26 hours in the end. I’d had problems with my stomach and if I’d gone home things could’ve

been so much worse. I had my mum with me for a bit but then she left and I was there by myself until my husband came.

“At that point I was so upset, and he’s better than me at standing up for myself, so he went and had a word with the

nurses about how bad it was. The nurses agreed it shouldn’t be like that, none of them were happy and they said it

was degrading but there’s nothing they can do.”

Molly complained about dizziness and wobbly legs after being told she was being discharged. She says she collapsed

in the discharge lounge and was readmitted to the ward before finally being discharged.

Corridor care allows the Royal Stoke to get ambulances back on the road quicker.