Gran has 'heart attack' then waits 25 hours in hospital corridor before going home

Grandmother of two Maria Bodea, 86, was rushed to St Helier Hospital in Sutton, south London, when she suffered a suspected heart attack, but was left to wait in a corridor

A grandmother who had a suspected heart attack waited more than 24 hours to be seen as she waited in a "war zone" hospital corridor, before giving up and heading home.

Maria Bodea, 86, was rushed to St Helier Hospital, Sutton, London, by ambulance. As there were no ward beds available, she was put on a trolley bed in a corridor with 20 other people.

But after 25 hours Maria decided she could not face another night in the corridor and discharged herself.

Daughter Sanda Ghiurcusor, 57 told SurreyLive: "It was like a warzone. It was a big line of beds next to the wall.

“We were put straight in the corridor near the automatic doors so we had cold coming in - it was a really bad night. People could walk past, cleaners walk past, and there's no privacy. Someone else said they had been there since Sunday. My mum is very frail and confused now. The matron told me it's like this in every trust in the country.

"It's not like the staff is not nice, everyone does a brilliant job but the management doesn't seem to invest in what's needed. It's not the doctor's fault - you can see the staff are stressed and embarrassed.”

Maria had some medication changed before leaving the hospital and she has been referred to another consultant for further tests.

A spokesman for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “While we always do our best for our patients, these are not the conditions we want to care for them in and we are really sorry Mrs Bodea did not have a good experience.

“When our services are exceptionally busy, as they are at the moment, we sometimes have to care for people in other areas of the hospital until a suitable bed becomes available - this is always only a temporary measure and patients are supervised by clinical teams at all times.”