A CONCERNED daughter has spoken out after her 84-year-old father was ‘kept in a corridor’ after being admitted to A&E over the weekend.

Ernest Bownes, who lives in Jaywick, has been living with an autoimmune disease and his condition has ‘rapidly declined’ over the last three months, his daughter said.

Carers who had been monitoring Ernest’s welfare said he needed to go to hospital and called an ambulance for him on Saturday.

After being admitted to Colchester Hospital, however, Ernest’s daughter Cheryl was left shocked as her father’s trolley was left in a corridor – with seemingly no bed in sight.

She said: “It’s now Monday and he’s still in the corridor.

“When he was admitted on Saturday, he was kept on a trolley. They couldn’t even find a pillow.

“I then went on the Sunday.

“There still were no pillows on the trolley.

“We kept saying he needed a pillow, so they rolled up a blanket for him.

“Eventually found a pillow and eventually at one o’clock on Sunday, [they] managed to locate a bed”.

She added: “He needs to have a spinal MRI scan. He needs to have a lumbar puncture, but they can’t do any of that until he gets on a ward.

“They have no idea when; people all throughout the corridor.”

Ernest was later moved to the Emergency and Assessment Unit at around 1pm on Monday.

Darren Darby, chief nurse at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Colchester Hospital, said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr Bownes’ experience in Colchester Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED).

"There were many very sick people who needed our care and treatment over the weekend and on Monday November 20.

“We are doing everything we can to respond to the high demand for our services, and to deliver the best possible care while keeping our patients safe – that is always our priority.

“Once a decision is made in ED to admit someone into hospital, all our teams do their best and work together to move them to the appropriate ward for their treatment as quickly as possible.

“Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and senior nursing colleagues took immediate action to support Mr Bownes’ family with their concerns about his experience and we appreciate their feedback.”