Grimsby hospital: High demand blamed for A&E queue

The queue outside Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital's A&E was described by one visitor as "frightening"

Patients attending a hospital's emergency department were forced to queue outside due to "high demand for services", a trust has said.

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust said the queue at its Grimsby hospital on Monday was due to a lack of "physical space" for walk-in patients because of social distancing.

One witness has described it as a "frightening experience".

Staff had regularly assessed patients waiting in the queue, the trust said.

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Kay Parrish, a former NHS worker, said she was faced with the line of patients outside Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital's A&E department when she took her friend, who was having a suspected heart attack.

Ms Parrish said: "I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were no chairs for anybody to sit down on. There was a lady that was pregnant, there were people with children, a lady with a baby. Everybody was just waiting very, very patiently.

"Nobody was given any explanations as to why people were waiting outside. Forty minutes later we'd probably moved six yards."

Kay Parrish said she "felt terrible" for all those waiting in the queue at the hospital

Ms Parrish said they were told there were "no beds" at the hospital and she had felt sorry for the staff.

"It really did frighten me. Something terrible's going to happen to somebody if that is a regular occurrence."

In a statement, the trust said: "We are experiencing a high demand for services - both in terms of A&E attendances and demand for beds.

"Yesterday afternoon there was a queue outside the department, not due to any delays in checking patients in, but due to there not being enough physical space in the department to allow all those who 'walked in' to be able to adhere to social distancing rules."

A trust spokeswoman added that the hospital was "still very busy" and advised people to seek alternative help such as their GP, pharmacy or the NHS 111 service when possible.