When 32-year-old Matthew Walker went with his mother-in-law to the hospital, he figured that she would be able to receive help relatively quickly. She’d been picked up by ambulance service – and he’d followed behind the official car – which he assumed would make her a priority.
He had no idea how wrong his assumption was.
Walker and his mother-in-law arrived at Royal Stoke University Hospital at 9pm. A doctor attended to her within the first five minutes of their arrival, arranging her on a stretcher in the hallway of the hospital to await further service.
Neither she nor Walker could have anticipated that they would have to wait another eight hours there to receive the attention for which they’d originally came.
After several hours of waiting, Walker lost his patience and decided to document the waiting process on his phone.
He shared his video on Facebook – after his mother-in-law was finally helped at 4:45am – and wrote about his frustration.
“I do not know where to start really. … There was roughly 200 people there, with some sitting on the floor as there was not enough chairs. … The corridor contained 20 plus people who were already on beds waiting to be seen,” he posted.
Walker did acknowledge that “the doctors and nurses did the best they could as they were 100 per cent [sic] overworked. Obviously there could have been more serious injuries to people coming in…”
But he still made a point of saying, “Some were waiting longer but the majority there or thereabouts waiting as long as us.”
Dr. Julie Norton, the clinical lead and emergency medical consultant that Royal Stoke University Hospital has responded to Walker’s post and other negative commentary regarding the long waiting time, saying that the entire staff is aware of this problem, but the department is “exceptionally busy and…have been asking [its] local community for their help…”
