George Morris’ family said the 83-year-old was treated ‘completely disgracefully’
An elderly grandad was forced to endure a 14-hour wait in A&E on a camp bed brought in by his family. George Morris, an 83-year-old with a heart condition who feared he might have sepsis, could not sit on the ‘hard plastic chair’ provided by Hairmyres Hospital during his lengthy ordeal.
Instead, his family had to bring in a camping bed for him to lie on. They described the situation as ‘shameless’, and even had to provide him with fresh water and a hot water bottle to keep him comfortable.
His daughter, Mandy Morris, expressed her outrage: “It was an absolutely shameful scene. At 4am I had to take up a camp bed after over 14 hours of waiting to be seen despite being referred by a GP to get admitted for IV Antibiotics.
“It was an absolute inhumane service with not a manager in sight who leave their battle weary fantastic nurses to deal with the fallout.”
Mandy explained that her father had previously been sent to Glasgow Royal Infirmary’s AandE by his GP due to concerns about a serious infection. He had already spent nearly 20 hours sitting in a waiting room chair at the infirmary on October 23, reports Bristol Live.
Mandy, from East Kilbride, recounted: “He was shaking vigorously and was left there on his own for 20 hours, initially being told he should absolutely not go home as he had a serious and possibly an irregular heartbeat only to be told eventually no you can just go home, with zero follow up.”
On Saturday, November 1, George began to display further indicators that ‘something serious was wrong’ – as Mandy explained he had soaring temperatures and rigours where he could not stop shaking.
She continued: “We took him to out of hours to Hairmyres hospital on the Saturday night and were advised that he looked like he had a serious of some sort and probably a UTI.
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“But they were concerned that the infection was on his blood now and said the only way to get fresh blood analysis was to go to our local AandE and referred us. My sister took him on Sunday around tea time and he was very very unwell by now, he was shaking so badly they struggled to get blood out of him for analysis.
“He needed to be admitted for IV antibiotics, so I think this was the third time were told he needed admitted. However, they then sent him back out to the waiting room which was absolutely full with no seats.
“At 3:30am on Monday morning my sister phoned me to say she just didn’t know what to do as there was no sign of dad being seen and we didn’t know what to do.”
That’s when Mandy chose to gather a bag containing water, blanket and hot water bottle plus a camp bed – ensuring he could remain comfortable.
Mandy revealed: “He was eventually admitted to AandE about 7am I think and was in hospital for about four days with several lots of antibiotics.”
Mandy is utilising her father’s ordeal to challenge the UK Government and Hairmyres hospital management. She expressed her frustration, saying: “They should hang their heads in shame at what is going on, this is the second time this year we’ve had to do this, previously with my mum – so it’s not a one off.
“We have heard about the millions they plan to spend in the coming years on the NHS but what we want to know is what the contingency plans are when some other poor soul presents next week under similar conditions, dad was treated completely disgracefully, it was not the fault of staff we want to make that clear they are absolutely battle weary and exhausted.
“We are challenging politicians and NHS management to come and sit in their local AandE for in excess of 14 hrs or bring their parents and let them sit there if they want our vote try and experience what their constituents are doing every day. This is not about ‘peak times’ – this is the new normal.”
Mandy, who runs Paw Print Dog Walks/Boarding, shared her surprise at how far their father’s story has spread online. She said: “We can’t believe how far this has reached and the level of engagement it is receiving, it just shows how far our NHS that was once the jewel in the crown of our country has fallen.
“We don’t want to hear about how much money is going to be invested in providing better facilities in hospitals we want to know what John Swinney MSP is going to do next week when some poor soul presents at AandE in the same condition as our dad.
“What contingencies are in place right now, not in 2026 or 2027, what can they do right now to make sure nobody else suffers like our dad. We would gladly have sat in a corridor waiting if all they had was a trolley for him, at least he would have been comfortable and not in additional pain.
“GPs need to catch on to what is happening all over country as a result of unnecessary referrals to AandE, that should always without fail only be for exactly that. We want to share this to stop one more family having to go through our experience.”
Lise Axford, chief of Nursing Services at University Hospital Hairmyres, said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr Morris’ experience and would like to offer our sincere apologies to him and his family for the length of time he waited.
“Our emergency departments continue to face sustained pressure across all three acute hospitals, with exceptionally high numbers of people attending AandE. This is resulting in longer waits for patients.
“We fully recognise these challenges and remain committed to improving patient experience, supporting our staff and reducing waiting times.
“Please only attend AandE in a life-threatening emergency. By choosing the right care for your needs, you’re helping ensure our hospitals are there for those who need them most.”