A 93-year-old man was left confused and thirsty for 13 hours on a hospital trolley as he waited for a bed, his family claim.
Pensioner Mr Frost, who has dementia, was taken to Scunthorpe General hospital after falling and fracturing his hip.
His family were assured staff were qualified to manage his dementia when they called at around 9pm.
But they said they were horrified to learn he was still waiting for a bed on a trolley in the hallway the following morning- more than 12 hours later, Grimsby Live.
His son, Andrew Frost, claims he was also told that staff had not offered him any food or drink because he appeared “aggressive” and agitated.
By 11.45am, his father was finally in a bed.
But when his family visited later that day, they claim they found him hungry, thirsty and in pain. He couldn't reach water that was placed nearby because of his hip fractures.
Andrew was told that records of his father's medical care in A&E weren't available, meaning that discharge nurses were unable to offer him any pain relief, it is claimed.
His care home was also reluctant to accept him back without proper documentation, the family add.
He eventually returned home around 6pm on Saturday, where he “ate like someone who hadn’t been fed for two days.”
Andrew said he was disgusted by what his father went through.
“I was furious at his treatment. It is very emotional to see a relative have that sort of treatment, especially someone who is now a frail elderly man,” he said.
“He was distressed the whole time he was there.
“The fact there didn’t seem to be any documentation made his experience more infuriating than it needed to be.
“The care home staff told us that when he got back, he ate the cupboards bare.
“I would like the hospital to look at the way he was treated and make sure it isn’t repeated so that his suffering isn’t in vain.”
Jo Loughborough, Lead Nurse for Patient Experience, apologised and said the trust aimed to provide better service even when A&E was very busy.
“I am sincerely sorry to hear about the experience Mr Frost and his family had.
"Our staff are working extremely hard under enormous pressure and whilst we are experiencing very high attendance numbers in our A&E departments, as a Trust our expectation is that we ensure we continue to offer the best care possible to our patients and their families," she said.
"Our Complaint team will be working with Mr Frost’s family and the relevant departments to investigate these concerns and feedback the outcome to the family through our usual processes.”
