A WOMAN says it was disgraceful that her vulnerable 87-year-old father was left on a trolley in a cubicle of a Bradford hospital for more than 24 hours.

Walter Briggs was taken by his family to the accident and emergency department at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) at noon on Tuesday, December 27.

The family said he was suffering from a suspected flu-like pneumonia.

On his arrival he was placed in a wheelchair by hospital staff and left in the A&E department until 5.45pm when he was placed on a trolley in a cubicle, his family said.

His daughter, Andrea Ingham, of Sandy Lane, says he remained in the same place more than 24 hours later.

Mr Briggs needed to be in isolation in a separate room at the hospital before he could be taken to stay on a ward.

He was then moved to a room on an infectious diseases ward on the morning of Thursday, December 29, his family said.

Andrea said: “They moved him onto the CDU ward, a cardiac diagnostic unit which they were using as a ward for patients that needed to go onto wards and he’s isolated."

She added: “It’s absolutely disgraceful the treatment my dad has had. This is especially as he is 87 and he is vulnerable. He is an old person. He doesn’t deserve this. I don’t feel very happy at all. It’s awful.

“I have taken my dad some food in as I don’t know if he has had anything to eat. It’s things like that.

“It’s not the nurses’ fault, they are stretched.

“I just want my dad sorted. We need to get him sorted.

“It was absolutely chaotic at accident and emergency. It was absolutely packed.

“He was shaking and he was cold.”

Andrea says she had picked up Mr Briggs from his home in Barnsley on Boxing Day and brought him to stay with her in Bradford. She added she struggled to get him out of bed the following day, leading to her taking him to the BRI.

Andrea says she was told she would receive a phone call from hospital staff on December 28 to let her have an update on his treatment, but she says she did not receive this.

In response, a spokesperson for Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership said: “Our hospitals are extremely busy and we are seeing very high numbers of patients in our Accident and Emergency (A&E) department.

“We are also seeing increasing levels of patients being admitted with flu and Covid requiring isolation, we encourage everyone to get their vaccinations if they have not already done so.

“We have to prioritise our sickest patients and we sincerely apologise to anyone who has had a long wait for treatment or admission.”

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