Paramedic treated like a 'piece of meat' in A&E

Patients could have died in a hospital corridor and nobody would have noticed, according to former paramedic Julie Rowland

A former NHS paramedic has described being admitted as a patient to A&E as "wall to wall chaos" and said staff treated her "like a piece of meat".

Julie Rowland has worked for the NHS for more than 30 years. In April she was admitted to A&E at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill with a potential bleed on her brain.

Ms Rowland said she was becoming more ill and thought "I've had a brain haemorrhage...I'm gonna die on this trolley".

In response to the allegations, Dr Ed Cetti, chief medical officer for Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, responded by saying the trust was disappointed "we haven't been able to agree an onward care plan that the patient is content with despite our best efforts".

Recalling her time in A&E Ms Rowland said it was "wall to wall chaos, noise, unprofessional, non-caring, chaotic, disorganised madness".

"I've worked in A&E, I've never been confronted by that," she added.

Describing what she witnessed, she said there were "trolleys everywhere going up the main corridor round the corner out of sight of everybody, you could have died in that corridor and nobody would have noticed".

Ms Rowland said she had lost much of her sight since her hospital admission but as she had not received a diagnosis she could not begin treatment.

She is currently receiving support from charities to help her to continue to live at home.

"This could be a lifelong disability and it potentially is going to be, and I think that's why I'm angry," she said.

"It's about the NHS taking accountability. You've changed my life forever and you've not given a monkey's about it either."

Dr Cetti said: "We are focused on getting patients the care they need as quickly as possible and it is incredibly disappointing to hear about cases where this has not happened, and we haven't been able to agree an onward care plan that the patient is content with despite our best efforts.

"Our staff are working hard to treat all patients coming into our Emergency Department as quickly as they can based on their clinical need, but unfortunately very high levels of demand have led to longer waiting times than we would expect to see.

"Patients will always be offered the most clinically appropriate treatment option for them, including all relevant diagnostics tests and scans to rule out life-threatening illness or injury, and in the last year we have put in place rapid access clinics to escalate follow-up appointments if a patient condition worsens."