A Labour councillor who broke her pelvis says she was forced to wait 17 hours in an A&E department that was like a "war zone" before finally getting a bed.
Tricia O'Brien, aged in her 60s, has blamed the Tory government for the "chaos" at the crumbling Royal Liverpool Hospital and called for more funding.
Ms O'Brien, a member of Liverpool City Council, said about 13 patients "who were in a really bad way" were on trolleys waiting to be taken to wards while staff were working hard under "tremendous pressure".
She told the Liverpool Echo that pressure on the NHS meant she couldn't get an ambulance immediately and her time in A&E highlights the desperate need for a new hospital in the city.
Cllr O'Brien, who broke her pelvis when she slipped and fell on ice on Sunday, said: "As soon as I put my foot down I could feel it go.
"I landed on my hip and I was in agony, I couldn't move."
Off-duty doctors, who were taking part in a charity Santa dash, came to her aid as she lay on the cold floor.
The councillor said: "They were amazing, so many people wanted to help me - they rang for an ambulance but unfortunately we were told one couldn't get to us for two hours."
The doctors carried her into a car and she was driven to Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Describing the scene inside A&E, she said: "It was chaos, like a war zone, there were three ambulances there that couldn't be used because the paramedics were waiting with patients.
"I counted around 13 trolleys in A&E with patients on waiting to be taken to beds. People who were in a really bad way.
"I was initially seen by a doctor in about four hours - but then I waited in A&E for another 12-13 hours before I finally got taken onto a ward."
Cllr O'Brien said it was a shock to see the conditions that staff were working in and the state of the crumbling hospital.
She added: "These people shouldn't be working in that building - our city desperately needs its new hospital now."
But it is unclear when the construction of a new hospital building will finish.
It is years behind schedule after the collapse of construction giant Carillion.
A number of structural faults have been discovered and new contractors have been working to correct them.
It is expected to be several years before the hospital is in use.
A spokesperson for Liverpool University Hospitals said: “We are sorry to hear about Cllr O’Brien’s concerns and we would be happy to discuss these further with her.”
