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NHS crisis: Four-year-old boy forced to sleep on hospital floor due to lack of beds

‘It was chaos,’ says the child’s mother

Sunday 08 December 2019 21:25 GMT

Jack Williment-Barr was discharged the next day after being diagnosed with influenza and tonsillitis (Mirrorpix)

A four-year-old boy was forced to sleep on a hospital floor as he waited for more than eight hours in A&E.

Jack Williment-Barr laid down on a coat in Leeds General Infirmary’s emergency department after being taken to hospital with suspected pneumonia.

A photo showing him sleeping on the floor of a clinical treatment room has been widely shared online after it was published by the Yorkshire Evening Post on Sunday.

“It was chaos,” Jack’s mother Sarah Williment, who took the picture, told the newspaper. “The NHS is in crisis... It was so busy. There are just not enough beds.”

Jack was eventually given a bed on a ward after 13-and-a-half hours at the hospital. He was later discharged after being diagnosed with Influenza A and tonsillitis.

Hospital bosses have personally apologised to the family for the long wait in A&E, which they blamed on “exceptionally high levels of demand”.

It comes amid intense debate about the future of the NHS ahead of the general election on Thursday.

Labour, who claim the Conservatives want to sell off the NHS in US trade talks, described Jack’s ordeal as “absolutely horrendous” and called on the prime minister to apologise.

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

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1/6Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

The elderly

“We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population,” Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs

Jeremy Hunt has called for a “honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments”, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4’s Today programme the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called “very serious problems at some hospitals” by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunt’s plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Simon Stevens, head of NHS England

Reports that “key members” of Ms May’s team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Previous health policy, not funding

In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been “ducked by government over the years”. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a “humanitarian crisis” and said health funding was at record levels. “We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need,” said the Prime Minister. “They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required… Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in.” But doctors accused Ms May of being “in denial” about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours

Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise – introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2000 – should only be for “those who actually need it”. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had “less stringent” rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

No one

Mr Hunt was accused of “hiding” from the public eye following news of the Red Cross’s comments and didn’t make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying “the public will want to know, Mr Hunt”. “Sorry Beth, I’ve answered questions about this already,” replied Mr Hunt. “But you didn’t answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didn’t want to water it down. Is that what you’re saying?” said Ms Rigby. “It’s very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then won’t answer the question, Mr Hunt”. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in.

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Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth, said: “This is shameful. Boris Johnson should personally apologise to Jack and his family. A decade of Tory cuts has brought us to this crisis in our NHS.

“If the Tories win on Thursday, patients including children will suffer five more years of this. We need a Labour government to save our NHS.”

Jack was taken to hospital by ambulance on Tuesday with suspected pneumonia after being examined by his GP, his mother said.

The four-year-old was initially given a bed in the paediatric emergency department but was then moved into a clinical room because the bed was urgently needed by another patient.

The clinical room was only equipped with chairs and Jack ended up lying down on the floor with an oxygen mask on a coat.

“My son was forced to sleep on the floor,” said Ms Williment. ”He just couldn’t settle or get comfy, he said he wanted to lay down.

“He was not able to settle, he kept sitting on the floor. Jack’s coat was on the floor and he ended up laying on top of it.”

Dr Yvette Oade, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said the hospital was “extremely sorry” that no bed was available in the treatment room.

“This falls below our usual high standards, and for this we would like to sincerely apologise to Jack and his family,” she added.

“Our hospitals are extremely busy at the moment and we are very sorry that Jack’s family had a long wait in our emergency department. Our chief executive Julian Hartley has spoken to Jack’s mum and offered a personal apology.

“We have seen a significant increase in the number of people visiting our paediatric emergency department, and this week we saw the highest attendances we have seen since April 2016. Despite this, our staff are working tirelessly to provide the best possible care under these extreme pressures.”

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