Woman, 87, ‘traumatised’ after enduring 12-hour wait in A&E three times

An 87-year-old woman who waited around 12 hours at A&E on three separate occasions has been left “traumatised” by her experience of the NHS, her daughter has said.

Ann Traynor, 61, from East Lothian, said her mother Winifred Bolland found the ordeal “frightening and degrading”.

Winifred, a former teacher, was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh last September after fracturing her hip.

She waited more than 12 hours before being admitted to a ward.

She was later discharged but in October was readmitted after struggling to stand on one of her legs.

She waited nine hours before an ambulance arrived and was looked after by ambulance staff in a corridor, her daughter, who is a nurse, said.

Ann Traynor with her mother Winifred Bolland in hospital after fracturing her hip PA Media

Winifred was again then forced to wait in A&E for around 12 hours.

The Scottish Government’s target is for 95% of patients in emergency departments to be seen within four hours.

In January, Winifred, who is visually impaired, fell and fractured her other hip at home.

Ann said she and her mother, who was in pain, had to wait around another 12 hours in “freezing” conditions.

The 61-year-old called for patients in A&E to be given access to painkillers while they wait.

She said her mother was discharged from the hospital and told she did not meet the criteria for rehabilitation, but was later given access to it.

She told how she had to take nearly a month off of work to ensure her mother was safe at home.

“She doesn’t ever want to go back to the Royal Infirmary,” Ann told the PA news agency.

“She was traumatised there, particularly the second time. There was no dignity in that admission.

“I think she felt like a burden. It’s really sad. I think her generation is very stoic but I think she was badly let down.

“She wouldn’t survive another admission like that.

“Although she was booted out, and I think it’s appalling that she was, I think she was safer at home.”

Winifred’s case was raised during First Minister’s Questions last Thursday by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, and First Minister John Swinney apologised to her and her family for the wait.

Mr Swinney said: “The health service faces extraordinary pressures as a consequence of the demand for assistance that there is in our healthcare system.

“I do not know the moment at which this incident happened but if Mr Cole-Hamilton will furnish me with the details, I will respond to that in full.

Winifred Bolland was forced to wait more than 12 hours in A&E on three separate occasions PA Media

“But as he knows, as I have recounted to Parliament over the winter period, we have had extraordinary pressures on our healthcare system as a consequence of flu.

“What I can reassure Mr Cole-Hamilton about is that on the latest data available, 12-hour waits in accident and emergency, which are completely unacceptable, are falling.

“Eight-hour waits are falling, still completely unacceptable, but they are falling as we begin to get on top of the implications of that wave of demand that the healthcare system has faced.”

Ann said she had previously written to the First Minister about her mother’s experience of the NHS.

Raising the case during FMQs on Thursday, Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “Winifred is not alone. These waits for emergency care have skyrocketed since the SNP came to power.”

Data analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has found the number of Scots waiting more than 12 hours in A&E has surged to almost 100 times the level it was at in 2011.

Just 784 people waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments in 2011, but by 2024 this number had increased to 76,346.

A freedom of information by the Lib Dems later found more than 12,000 patients over the age of 85 were forced to wait in emergency departments for more than 12 hours last year.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on individual cases, however we would like to apologise to the patient for the delay in the ambulance response and for any distressed caused.

“We would ask the patient or her family to contact our Patient Experience Team directly so we can look into this case further and personally discuss the details with them.”

NHS Lothian has been approached for comment.