"A and E at crisis point"

My mother (aged 92) was brought into A and E on the early evening of Tuesday 19th December 2017 following the second of two falls at home .

The paramedics turned up very promptly and were kind, efficient and very polite.

They advised admission as they couldn't be certain that she hadn't broken anything and the reason for her falls needed to be investigated. When she arrived, A and E was incredibly busy with beds and trolleys clogging up all the corridors surrounding the department.

Nevertheless, the staff, although completely over-stretched did what they could to check her out and she was given scans and other tests within a few hours of admission.

I stayed with her until around midnight and her bed was still in the corridor when I left.

I returned late morning on Wednesday and was dismayed to find that although she had been moved, she was still in a corridor.

The corridors are not quite wide enough for two beds to pass without jolting and this was happening all the time (even though the porters were being careful) causing her discomfort. The drip that she needed was in danger of being dislodged. Again, however, the staff were doing their best in shocking conditions.

On Thursday, I returned around 11.00 a.m. and found that she was still in a corridor! (A total of around 40 hours!!).

At this point she was moved to CDU but it would have been better in some ways if she had remained in the corridor as it was very noisy (dementia patients in distress, mainly), understaffed, dirty and very far from a healing environment.

She was moved to an acute ward (Kings D) around midnight; this at least was a little less stressful and reasonably clean.

In all of the locations, the staff were doing their best.

However, I suspect that all of this has taken its toll as she now seems less communicative, more confused and, although infection is under control, she has gone downhill.

She has now been moved to a geriatric ward at Kent and Canterbury which seems much quieter and more restful than any of the wards at WHH, but she has a lot of healing to do and I feel it is touch and go as to whether she will pull through.

I was truly shocked and appalled by the situation at A and E.at WHH

Apparently this is partly due to the recent closure of A and E at Canterbury and some other hospitals in population centres in SE Kent.

Surely this should not have been done if Ashford and Margate lack the extra capacity to cope, and WHH was stretched beyond anything acceptable even in a war zone!

What have we allowed to happen to our NHS?

The decision makers should be held to account.