Claims of 'chaos' at new South Glasgow University Hospital

There have been claims that a new £842m super hospital in Glasgow was in chaos four weeks after it opened to patients.

One woman told the BBC that the South Glasgow University Hospital was like "a war zone" over the bank holiday weekend and her terminally-ill husband had to wait eight hours to be admitted.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) said it was undertaking the largest ever hospital migration in the UK.

The board said it was "very sorry" for some patients' waiting times.

Annette Leishman said her terminally-ill husband, who has pneumonia, was referred by their GP to the immediate assessment unit at the new hospital.

'Major disaster'

She said the unit was like "a war zone...after a major disaster" when they arrived, and the reception area was "six deep" in people trying to be seen.

"The corridors were full of people on trolleys with ambulance men waiting to get them booked in, old people left in corridors and no-one acknowledging anyone because they did not know where they were going."

Mrs Leishman said it was about 16:00 when she arrived with her husband.

The campus has two hospitals - one for adults and a dedicated children's facility

He waited until 18:45 to be seen by a triage nurse and was seated in a chair in a corridor until 20:45 before someone came to take a blood sample.

She said they had to ask "several times" for a trolley bed for her husband.

Mrs Leishman said she acknowledged that there were "teething problems" as it was a new hospital but described what she witnessed as "an absolute disaster".

In a statement, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it was "extremely sorry to hear of this patient's experience".

'Fallen short'

"The issues that the family have described are unacceptable and we are investigating their concerns."

The health board said it appeared that the treatment given to Mrs Leishman's husband had "fallen short" of the "fundamental principles of NHS care" of "dignity, respect and courtesy".

The statement said staff at the new hospital were "working hard" during "a period of major change" that was still just halfway through the biggest hospital migration programme ever undertaken in the UK.

It concluded; "We have already provided more than 10,000 staff who will be working in the new hospitals a full induction as well as familiarisation of the specific areas they will be working in.

"During this migration period, not all the services and new ways of working are in place as services are being maintained on multiple sites.

"In the interim some patients have waited longer than we would have wished in the emergency department and the immediate assessment unit and we are very sorry for this."