Terminally ill woman forced to sleep on hospital floor
A terminally ill woman was forced to sleep on a hospital floor due to a lack of beds.
Madeleine Butcher and her husband John arrived at Blackpool Victoria Hospital A&E at around 3am on June 23, where Madeleine learnt she was likely suffering from sepsis.
Despite the worrying prognosis, staff said she might have to wait 36 hours to be admitted.
Madeleine, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022, explained that sitting down for any longer was uncomfortable due to a hernia from her hysterectomy and the position of her tumour.
She asked if there was a bed, trolley or even a reclining chair she could use, but was told that nothing was available.
John said the doctor instead gave her a blanket and a pillow so she could lie on the floor.
Garden centre worker John, 61, of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, said he was ‘absolutely horrified’.
He added: ‘I didn’t realise how angry I was until I got home and I looked at the picture of her on the floor.
‘How is that acceptable in this day and age? A terminally ill patient lying on the floor?
‘I still can’t get over the fact that a doctor thought it was acceptable for her to lie on the floor for that long.’
Thankfully, said John, the nurses noticed what was happening and after half an hour had found a trolley Madeleine could lie on.
However, she wasn’t admitted to a ward until Wednesday evening, he added. She is now receiving treatment for sepsis.
John took his wife to A&E after she developed infection-like symptoms.
She received blood tests around 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital and saw a doctor approximately three and a half hours later.
It was at this point she was told it was probably sepsis but she would have to wait for a bed.
John believes the situation could have been resolved straight away.
He said: ‘The nurses got her a trolley within half an hour of seeing her on the floor, so I feel there must have been trolleys available at the time.
‘It’s not ideal, but at least a trolley is more comfortable than the floor or the chairs in A and E.
‘The corridors weren’t that full, it wasn’t that busy from what I could see, but then I couldn’t see how short-staffed they were.
‘When you’re put under pressure, you make mistakes and I feel they must have been under so much pressure.’
He said one of the doctors described A&E as a ‘warzone’ and understood why staff might struggle in those conditions.
He added: ‘I feel the issues go back decades under successive governments, back to Margaret Thatcher and nothing has really improved since.
‘We’ve got this creeping privatisation of the NHS and it’s not right.
‘The fact you can go to a private hospital for faster treatment than the NHS and often see the same doctors, that’s not right.
‘There’s not enough nurses, not enough beds.’
Mum-of-two Madeleine, who is currently on sick leave from her job as a legal cashier, has suffered sepsis on a number of occasions since being diagnosed with cancer and will often spend 10-14 days in for treatment.
John said he frustrated at the system and how difficult it is for his wife to get the treatment she needs when it flares up.
‘Some of the staff are fantastic, but the systems just don’t seem to be in place to deal with how busy they get.
‘The annoying thing from our point of view is that we know exactly what’s wrong, but you’ve got to go through the assessment and waiting process every time.
‘Even if oncology rings down and says she needs to be admitted, you’ve still got to go through A&E and listen to the drunks. It’s not a nice place to go.’
Madeleine had a full hysterectomy around 18 months ago and it was hoped she would get the all-clear following the operation.
But sadly it had spread further and she was later told she had terminal endometrial cancer.
Marie Forshaw acting executive director of nursing, midwifery, allied health professionals and quality at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘We have received a formal complaint about Mrs Butcher’s care in the Accident and Emergency department.
‘I’d like to thank her for coming forward and am very sorry if the quality of care she has received did not meet the high standards our patients should expect.
‘Any complaint we receive is thoroughly reviewed so we can understand the situation and put into practice any improvements that are needed.’
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