NI health system needs fixed, says daughter of terminally-ill woman

Jennifer Murphy had to wait in pain on a treatment table as there was no bed or trolley

A woman whose terminally-ill mother waited 28 hours without a bed at Craigavon Hospital has urged political leaders to fix the health service.

Claire Murphy's mother, Jennifer, who has blood cancer, had to lie on a treatment table at the hospital.

Ms Murphy drove her to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital as, she said, 50 callers were in the queue for an ambulance.

The Southern Trust said its "exhausted staff" were facing huge pressures.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) offered its sincere apology and said the service had been under extreme pressure.

Ms Murphy told BBC News NI's Evening Extra on Monday that the doctors and nurses had done all they could and she felt sorry for the staff working under such stress.

"It's not the people; it's the resources; it's the space... I felt so sorry for every single person that have to work under these conditions," she said.

The family learned in April that Ms Murphy's mother's blood cancer was terminal.

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When she woke up with an eye infection on Sunday, they took her to Craigavon at about 13:00 BST.

Staff cared for her in a family room so that she would be isolated and at less risk.

"There were no beds, not even a trolley in A&E for her," said Ms Murphy.

"When we got the scans, we realised that she had quite a serious infection and she needed to be treated quite quickly."

Mrs Murphy was given an examination table to lie on and spent the next 24 hours there.

The medical staff did all they could in the circumstances, said her daughter, but she understood that seven people were waiting for a bed.

"I spent my time apologising to the nurses because they were so busy and they spent their time apologising to us.

"If there had been a trolley or bed they would have got her one."

Claire Murphy urged political leaders to fix the health service

Although the family knew there was a bed waiting for her at the Royal Victoria Hospital, they had to wait.

"The doctors felt that due to the risk, she should be transported in an ambulance… but there were 50 calls ahead of her and they were all very sick people as well.

"Because she was ill, she was not really allowed pain relief. She was in a really uncomfortable position and it was really difficult to watch.

"After four hours, when we knew the team in the RVH knew we were coming, I said 'I'm gong to have to take her myself'. They weren't keen but the doctor said 'If that's what you feel you need to do.'"

Ms Murphy said that when they arrived and her mother saw the bed, she started to cry.

'Like they've accepted the way it is'

Later, when she tweeted about her mother's ordeal, she was overwhelmed at the response.

"There have been thousands of messages and people contacting us," she said.

"The shadow secretary for health raised it in parliament today."

Now, she is urging political leaders to sort out the system.

"I don't have the answer as to how to fix it. But there are people out there that do have the answer and the ability to change it - and they need to," she said.

"It's almost as if they've just accepted this is the way the health service is.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it has been under extreme pressure

In a statement, the Southern Trust said staff were doing everything they can to make patients comfortable and treat everyone as safely and quickly as possible.

The trust said patients in the Emergency Department were having to wait for another patient's discharge before a bed became available.

"Our hospitals are working beyond capacity dealing with rising numbers of Covid patients and many ill patients waiting for hospital beds," the statement said.

"Managing these pressures in a global pandemic is a huge ongoing challenge for our exhausted staff.

"Rising Covid-19 related staff absence and illness inevitably increases pressures on our services, which are already experiencing very high levels of demand."

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it would be happy to talk to the Murphy family about the reasons for the delay.

"At the time of the call, NIAS was under extreme pressure due to a high number of calls waiting to be responded to and crews delayed at EDs (emergency departments) due to pressures across the entire HSC (health and social care) system," their statement said.

"NIAS has explained through a number of press statements and media interviews the pressures that we have been facing over the past number of months and will continue to face in the months ahead.

"These pressures are being experienced across the entire health and social care system."