Tom Crouchman, 77, was rushed to Queen’s Hospital A&E in Romford on January 19 after collapsing at home with pneumonia on his left lung.
He then spent nearly 72 hours being cared for in the corridor until a bed on a ward became available on January 22.
His son Paul compared the emergency department at the Rom Valley Way hospital to that of a “third world country”, with at least ten others on beds in the same corridor as him.
Paul said there were 10 other patients in the same corridor as his dad (Image: Paul Crouchman)
Paul told the Recorder: “Queen’s Hospital A&E is just not fit for purpose anymore – there’s just too many people.
“I can’t fault the staff, but the system is broken.
“With Havering as well we have a higher proportion of older people anyway, which exacerbates the problem tremendously.”
READ MORE: ‘I visited Queen’s Hospital, Romford A&E and it was harrowing’
This is the third time Tom has been admitted to hospital since October, and Paul says even since then the situation at Queen’s has got “so much worse”.
The 51-year-old said he had to stand next to his dad “for 18 hours” because there were not enough chairs, and his sister – who also visited and is disabled – struggled to find somewhere to sit.
Paul also said that although there were lots of staff on the daytime shift, by the time it got to 8pm there were “a maximum of two staff trying to deal with at least ten patients”.
Tom has now been moved to a four-bed frailty ward and has been “a lot brighter” since.
Paul told the Recorder: “He just wasn’t himself [in the corridor], he wasn’t communicating properly.
“It’s terrifying. I thought I was going to lose him.
“I thought he was going to pass away in the corridor. I was so scared.”
Queen’s Hospital is campaigning to secure £35 million in funding to “transform” its “inadequate” emergency department.
Matthew Trainer, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) chief executive, said the funding will “improve patient care, provide better working conditions for colleagues and end the indignity of corridor care”.
The hospital is encouraging patients and their relatives to support the campaign by contacting their MPs.
