Puddles of blood, urinating in corridors and 46 hour waits: Undercover Dispatches footage reveals A&E horrors

A patient in a West Midlands A&E was forced to urinate while lying in a corridor as another was left crying in agony for hours in an undercover report highlighting the NHS’ emergency care crisis.

A Channel 4 Dispatches programme has exposed the “suffering and indignity faced by patients on a daily basis” after an undercover reporter secretly filmed himself working as a trainee healthcare assistant inside the emergency department of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for two months. The footage, which aired on Monday night, shows one patient waiting 30 hours in a “fit to sit” area while a suspected stroke sufferer was there for 24 hours, the broadcaster said.

In one clip, an elderly man was forced to urinate in a trolley on the corridor in full view of staff and other patients, while in another a woman is left crying in agony for hours. Nurses are also seen discussing how one of their patients was forced to wait a staggering 46 hours for care and at one point the footage shows large pools of blood on the floor.

Experts have said while the scenes were “shocking” and “harrowing” they were not unique to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and are occurring in hospitals across England.

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Source: The Independent, 25 June 2024