Hospital left dying mother on trolley for hours

When cancer victim Jean Toms was taken to hospital with agonising stomach pains her son expected her to be given a bed straight away.

But 71-year-old Mrs Toms was left on a trolley for 16 hours through the night, even waiting three hours before being given any painkillers.

Then, after finally being admitted to a ward, she faced a further three hours lying on another trolley in a corridor waiting for a scan the following day.

A few hours later she died. The tragic incident emerged only two days after the Daily Mail found that a growing shortage of beds is threatening the NHS with a 'winter crisis' - five months early.

Last night her son Mark, 29, demanded an investigation into his mother's death at Weston Hospital in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Mr Toms said: 'It is appalling that my mother had to wait so long for a bed.

'It was like something from the third world.

'She went into hospital by ambulance at 10pm and it was obvious her condition was critical and she needed a bed.

'For two hours I was running around a packed department trying to ensure she got a bed and I was finally told at midnight that she would shortly be going to a ward.

'My mother told me to go home and get some sleep before work.

'But when I arrived at 10am the next day I found her still in accident and emergency.

'I couldn't believe she had spent all night on a trolley in her condition.'

A bed was eventually found for Mrs Toms at 2pm that afternoon - 16 hours after arriving at the hospital.

Her son, who runs a tiling firm with his wife Chrissy, said she then needed further investigation.

He added: 'My mother still had to wait another three hours for a scan. When she came back, she looked so ill. It was heartbreaking.'

A post-mortem found that Mrs Toms died of stomach cancer, but her son is convinced the lengthy delay finding a bed contributed to her deterioration and distress.

He said: 'She had had chemotherapy at Torbay Hospital three weeks earlier and when she came to stay with us she was in the best health since her treatment began.

'She was out shopping with Chrissy and walking the dog, until she felt ill on Monday evening. I didn't think her condition was lifethreatening, but I was disgusted with the state of the accident and emergency department.

'There were patients lying on trolleys and no beds in which to put them.'

When Mr Toms complained to the hospital, chief executive Roger Moyse apologised to the family and admitted that Mrs Toms should never have been kept waiting for so long.

'We have a significant lack of beds and are feeling the pressure,' he said.

'We are about to increase the number of nursing home beds we can use, which should alleviate the problem. And we have asked for a diagnostic and treatment centre - that would also help.'

He has since ordered a full investigation.

Brian Cotter, Liberal Democrat MP for Weston- super-Mare, visited the hospital's A&E last month and wrote immediately to Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

He said: 'It was a department under siege. The staff were working tremendously hard, but how can they operate effectively when there aren't enough beds?

'I asked Mr Milburn for an extension to the hospital and I have written to him again about what happened to Mrs Toms.'

Earlier this week, the Mail revealed that a new £97million hospital, which treats patients from Tony Blair's constituency, had to cancel surgery on the day he opened it because of a shortage of intensive care beds.