A&E staff 'in tears' as they're forced to 'resuscitate patients in waiting room'

A&E staff have been reduced to tears as they claim they are being forced to "resuscitate patients in the waiting room" as people wait "days" for beds.

Five senior staff at the The Royal Preston hospital have warned the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust of the "incredibly precarious" situation in a furious letter, seen by the BBC.

The note set out how ambulances are waiting more than four hours to unload patients as there is no space for them.

Patients are routinely waiting more than "two days" for a bed at the emergency department, the BBC reports.

Have you been affected by serious and long delays in A&E? Get in touch newsdesk@mirror.co.uk

Patients at the hospital are 'dying without dignity' according to A&E staff at Royal Preston Hospital (Julian Hamilton/Sunday Mirror)

"We have witnessed senior experienced staff crying with frustration and anger as they have had to resuscitate patients in the waiting room, examine in the viewing room and CT changing room, seen patients leave the department as they have been pulled out of a cubicle to allow someone more unwell to be treated in their former space and patients die without the dignity of privacy," the letter, signed by the clinical director Graham Ellis, the matron, two managers and the business manager, said.

The trust said staff and patient welfare was its priority.

But the letter continued: "This means that at most times there is limited or no space to accommodate new acutely ill patients causing ambulance handover delays of over four hours and delay in treatment.

The furious letter has been signed by five members of senior staff and sent to the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust (Lancs Live/MEN MEDIA)

"Patients, often elderly with multiple co-morbidities, have to sit in the waiting room, some for over 24 hours waiting for a cubicle space and treatment.

"Patients wait outside the department as there is no space to socially distance in the waiting room."

Staff are "mentally drained and despite their best efforts have seen patients suffer and have received negative comments from distraught relatives and carers", the note claimed.

The A&E department has to remain open to patients even when other departments are full and close their doors (James Maloney/Lancs Live)

The A&E managers claim that they are expected to take patients even when other wards close their doors.

A statement from trust's chief executive, Kevin McGee, said: "The safety of patients and the welfare of staff remain the trust's top priorities but like NHS providers across the country, our hospitals have continued to sustain unprecedented pressure which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic."

The Mirror has contacted the trust for further comment.