A retired nurse died after she waited 10 hours for a hospital bed, an inquest has heard. Margaret Waters, 72, fell in her kitchen and was taken to hospital where she was seen by a doctor. But there was a long delay before she was taken to a ward because of ‘pressure on beds’.
Margaret died 12 days later of a chest infection, caused by impaired mobility as a result of the fall.
During the inquest A&E matron Denise Fraser said the pensioner had been in A&E ‘far longer than ideal’ but within the 12-hour maximum target.
She added: “Due to the pressure on beds over the whole of our winter, we were not immediately able to get her on to a medical ward but she had repeated observation tests.”
Full story in The Mirror, 17 Feb 2017