A dying West Lothian mum was left on a trolley for two days after suddenly being rushed to hospital with a chest infection.
Ruth Tonks died on January 2 after being admitted to St John’s Hospital in Livingston on December 28. Her son, Carl, has spoken of the scenes he witnessed while in hospital and spoke of the immense pressure staff within the NHS are facing.
With Ruth being blue lighted from her home in Whitburn to St John’s after coming down with a chest infection, Carl said she was left on a trolley and without any privacy for two days until a room was eventually found.
Despite this, Carl said he couldn’t have more appreciation for the staff within the hospital, who he said “made a very difficult situation easier.”
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Carl said: “It all happened quite sudden. We were all out celebrating her birthday just two weeks ago and on Christmas Day we went out for lunch and that night, she said she wasn’t feeling quite right.
“She had COPD and the next day it looked like she may have picked up a chest infection. I told her to stay in bed that day while I kept her fed and watered as it were but on Tuesday (December 27) she was still in bed which wasn’t like her. I said I’m going to get the doctor out on Wednesday and he came round and confirmed it was a chest infection which she was given antibiotics for.
“She didn’t want to go to hospital but she then phoned me and her breathing had deteriorated. I said I’m sorry but I’m going to have to call an ambulance for you. When the ambulance crew arrived, they saw how ill she was and they decided to alert the hospital prior to arrival.
She went in by blue lights and that’s the only reason she got straight in otherwise she would have been waiting in the car park like everyone else. She went in and eventually got a bed two nights later.”
Carl, 51, who has also worked in the NHS most of his life and is familiar with health system in the West Midlands before moving to West Lothian two years ago, said staff were “running around like headless chickens.”
On Wednesday, we reported how St John’s Hospital was “at capacity” as NHS Lothian issued a warning to locals with staff becoming overwhelmed by an increase of flu and norovirus cases.
Carl continued: “A&E were constantly apologising to me but they couldn’t have done anything anyway, it was out of their hands. I knew when my mum got a bed that it was someone’s who had passed away because not a lot of people were getting discharged at the time.
“They couldn’t do enough for us, they made sure me and my husband were fed so we could stay with mum and even she, while she was able to speak, said the staff had been absolutely brilliant. The day we got the news that she wasn’t going to make it and they were just going to keep her comfortable, staff were keeping me updated as they were still trying to find her an assigned room.
“They managed to get hold of two side rooms but someone came in with the flu or Covid so they had to be isolated and be allocated the side rooms, which I totally get but staff were still apologising. They eventually found a bay in a quieter ward and we were allowed to stay.
“The only thing I would have liked is a side room but care wise, I couldn’t have asked for any more. They are overstretched and I could see how mentally exhausted and tired they were. They’re actually embarrassed abut the level of care they can provide which is soul destroying to hear.”
Carl is an advanced nurse practitioner in Fife and is very aware of the struggles that hospital staff are faced with each day, but he said the scenes he witnessed in St John’s were like nothing he had ever seen in his career so far.
He added that his mum’s death came as a shock considering she was still driving just over two weeks ago. Carl also lost his dad just over two years ago and said his mum spent so long looking after him that they tried their best to treat her before her time came.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our deepest condolences are with this gentleman and his family and we are doing all we can to support the health service through what is the most challenging winter in the history of the NHS.
“The First Minister has chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government resilience committee to discuss ongoing pressure and we remain in daily contact with health boards to ensure all possible actions are being taken to support services. We will continue to monitor the situation extremely closely and further resilience meetings will be held in the coming weeks as required.”
Jacquie Campbell, Chief Officer, Acute Services, NHS Lothian, said: “We would offer our sincere condolences to the family.”
“Our Emergency Departments are currently under extreme pressure, but our teams are working tirelessly to increase capacity and improve patient flow through the hospital during one of the busiest times we have ever experienced.
“The unprecedented and prolonged levels of demand, which are being exacerbated by rising levels of COVID, Flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), continue to cause real challenges for both acute and community care.”
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