A sick and elderly woman who was left lying on a trolley on a hospital corridor for 33 hours told her family she wanted to die.
The harrowing case is the latest to shine a grim light on the chaos surrounding the National Health Service, with hospitals and Accident and Emergencies across the region completely overwhelmed.
Graeme Smith was trying to get his 92-year-old grandma into Aintree Hospital from her care home on New Year's Eve after she became unwell. Having waited hours for an ambulance, the paramedics were then caught up in a queue of vehicles trying to get into the hospital.
Graeme, 37, from Crosby, explained: "She arrived at the hospital at 9pm but didn't get a place on a ward until 6am on January 2. The rest of the time she was waiting on a hospital corridor with about 40 other elderly or very sick people.
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"They were all being treated as well as staff could manage, but a number of them were in distress. It was horrendous to be honest."
Speaking about the state of his nan during the long wait in the corridor, Graeme added: "She was very distressed after a while, she was crying and telling us she wanted to die. She was praying and asking to be taken. I've never heard her say anything like that before.
"The people in that corridor, some of them couldn't have their basic needs met because there weren't enough staff. Some couldn't get to the toilet and had soiled themselves. it was horrendous.
He added: "The staff were trying their best, they were so apologetic. They are victims of this as well.. Seeing this made me angry and that anger should be directed at the government."
Across the city at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, New Year's Eve saw similarly distressing scenes of elderly and vulnerable people left in corridors because of a lack of beds and staff.
One woman who is a nurse based in a different area of the hospital spoke of her harrowing experience when taking her 88-year-old grandmother to the hospital's overwhelmed A&E department.
The nurse, who asked not to be named, said: "My grandma is almost 89 and she was on a trolley, in a corridor, from just before midnight on December 31 until 5pm on Monday January 2 - that's 41 hours. I was having to help other patients on the corridor, there were people crying out for help and others trying to climb off their trolley.
"There is not enough staff to look after people and I think if we hadn't been there to feed and water my grandma she could have died there. A tea trolley came by at 5pm on one evening, there was no one else who came until 11am the next day."
She added: "It is like we have just accepted that it's ok for people to be lying in corridors for hours, corridors are where people walk through to get to work - where workmen and others come through, it is not right.
"I'd heard about how bad things are but to feel it first hand has just really knocked me sick. I feel ashamed. This is a horrific situation, from the poor staff trying to do their best but mainly for our sick and elderly relatives. It could be you or your family one day."
Directing her anger at the government, she suggested ministers should "try lying on a hospital corridor for 41 hours and see how they cope."
In another account that highlights the crisis in emergency care a young woman spoke of trying to get her elderly grandad into hospital in recent days. Having called an ambulance from their Knowsley home, they were advised against travelling to Whiston Hospital because it could mean a nine hour wait in the back of an ambulance.
She explained: "We instead went to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, what we witnessed there really needs to be seen to be believed. There were patients lined on corridors, they had no privacy and no dignity. One man was getting changed in his underwear in the hallway where people were walking past.
"There was a woman crying out in pain but the nurse said unfortunately they had to prioritise patients because they were so short of staff. People were being wheeled on trolleys past others but it was a very tight space."
She added: "There was one woman who had been there since New Year's Eve and on the corridor for over 36 hours and was still there. Another woman said she was fed up and was going home instead of waiting. We were lucky that my grandad was only on the corridor for 12 hours before being moved to a room."
Responding to the accounts we are reporting today, David Melia, Chief Nurse at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Like many Emergency Departments across the country, we continue to face an unprecedented demand on our services.
“Our staff are working incredibly hard to provide safe care for patients in what are extremely challenging circumstances. This includes triaging patients on arrival, prioritising care according to clinical needs, and regular reviews and safety checks to monitor and support patients whilst they are in the department.
“To be able to further look into the concerns described, we would encourage those families to contact our Patient Advice and Complaints Teams.
“Unless their condition is life-threatening, we are urging people not to attend the Emergency Department. To help support our teams in caring for our sickest patients, local communities can help us by only using A&E when it is an emergency, and to contact NHS 111 to find alternative services if they have less urgent concerns.”
These experiences reported today are just the latest in a long line that show just how much relentless pressure the NHS and its emergency departments are under at present.
Last week the ECHO published grim images of people lying on hospital floors because of a lack of space in A&E waiting rooms. Other pictures showed paramedics tending to patients on trolleys in waiting areas and huge queues of ambulances with patients being treated and unable to get into the hospitals.
The President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has predicted that as many as 500 people a day are dying because of delays in emergency care. Dr Adrian Boyle, believes waiting times for December will be the worst he has ever seen, with more than a dozen NHS trusts and ambulance services declaring critical incidents over the festive period.
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