A cancer-stricken former nurse has hit out at the “scandalous” treatment of patients she claims to have experienced at a Fife hospital.
Violet Wright (70), of Methil, said she had “never experienced anything like it” until she and dozens of other patients were forced to “sit in a circle” in a small side room at the Victoria Hospital because no beds were available.
The great-grandmother said many other patients, including a number of elderly, couldn’t even get into the room and were forced to sit in a corridor awaiting assessment.
When Mrs Wright was finally seen by a doctor after a six-hour wait, she said there wasn’t even a proper assessment room available and she was taken into another small sitting room for diagnosis.
After being told that her symptoms were consistent with a bout of pneumonia three weeks ago and that she was free to go home, Mrs Wright said a kind-hearted member of the public was “so outraged” at what had happened that she was given a lift home, finally arriving after midnight having not eaten for 16 hours.
“My message to everyone is don’t get ill,” said Mrs Wright, who has undergone a series of facial reconstructions due to mouth cancer in recent years.
“I went to Leven Health Centre at 2.10pm on Monday because I’d been coughing up some blood and having nose bleeds in the morning. My GP ordered an ambulance which came within the hour and took me to the Vic.
“I was put on to a seat in Admissions One because there were no beds. There were big crowds including a 92-year-old woman who’d been sitting longer than me and about seven people in the corridor.
“When they came round with a trolley of soup and sandwiches at 5.30pm, I couldn’t have any because my mouth is too sore and there’s certain foods I can’t eat.
“At 10pm I was finally seen by a doctor. I was examined in a wee sitting room because there was nowhere else to go, and after X-rays and blood tests I was allowed to go home.”
Mrs Wright was trained as a nurse at the old Victoria Hospital in 1989 before working at Cameron and Randolph Wemyss hospitals.
She is also no stranger to hospitals as a patient, having undergone major cancer surgery in 2003 and with another mouth operation due at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, in four weeks.
However, she said she had been “shocked” at this experience and thought it was wrong for hospital authorities to make out that everything was “under control”.
It was recently reported that patient care in Scotland is suffering from a chronic shortage of nursing staff.
Mrs Wright added: “The staff were lovely and were run off their feet. But there was clearly a shortage of staff and a shortage of beds. There was no denying it.”
Former Methil Fife councillor Joyce Smith, who was once a member of Fife Health Board, said she was “incandescent with anger” at Mrs Wright’s case.
George Cunningham, NHS Fife director of acute services, said: “I am disappointed to hear of this experience but can confirm that the patient has been in touch with our patient relations department and we will look further into the concerns that have been raised.
“Over the past few weeks NHS Fife has faced increased pressure and demand over and above that planned for in the winter plan, resulting in additional staff being brought in to meet that demand and additional beds opened.
“Our staff continue to work extremely hard to care for our patients. All complaints that we receive are treated seriously, investigated and where we fall short of the high standards we expect action is taken.”