Trolley wait for broken neck

Managers at Southmead Hospital have apologised

A hospital has apologised after a 79-year-old woman with a broken neck waited 14 hours on a trolley.

Gladys Thomas, from Stoke Bishop, Bristol, was taken to Southmead Hospital, Bristol, at 0815 GMT on 1 November and by mid-morning an X-ray showed she had fractured her neck.

But she was forced to wait on a hospital trolley all day until just before 2300 GMT, when she was eventually admitted to a ward.

North Bristol NHS Trust issued a statement on Friday offering a full public apology to Mrs Thomas and her family for the delay and inconvenience.

Review of procedure

A trust spokeswoman said: "We do consider that the delay was too long.

"The need to carry out necessary tests to establish the extent of her injuries, such as X-rays and scans, contributed to the time she waited before it was decided to admit her."

She said the trust was now reviewing its accident and emergency procedures in light of the case.

Mrs Thomas, a grandmother of two, injured her neck in a fall in her son's garden and was taken to hospital after complaining of dizziness and nausea.

Confusing explanations

She is still undergoing treatment in the orthopaedic ward at Southmead Hospital.

Her 56-year-old son Chris, from Portishead, said staff at the hospital told him she should have been taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

He said: "It's been awful because we've been confused about why we were told - and are still being told - she's in the wrong place for the treatment she needed."

Mr Thomas said he would be lodging an official complaint about his mother's treatment to the trust.