‘He had no dignity’: 90-year-old man dies in hospital corridor

Words by Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry and Senior Producer Philip Sime

The family of an elderly man who had a “degrading” death in a crowded corridor of an NHS hospital has called on the health secretary to take action.

Roger Bass, 90, was taken by ambulance to Queen’s Hospital in Romford at the end of November after suffering a suspected stroke.

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But he died on a trolley in a corridor of the A&E department, surrounded by dozens of other patients waiting for a bed on a ward.

Speaking to ITV News, Mr Bass’s children, Sue and Mike, said the situation at the hospital was “absolutely disgusting”.

“It’s shameful. He had no dignity,” Sue said.

“He should’ve been in a private room where his family could be around him, saying our prayers and our last goodbyes – not in a corridor.”

‘It’s shameful, he had no dignity’: Roger Bass’s daughter Sue says it ‘rattles her brain’ to think her father died in a corridor

The family believes Roger, who used to work at a car dealership in Essex and was passionate about caring for horses, was badly “let down” by the NHS.

“It was a horrific scene,” Mike Bass told ITV News.

“It was degrading, for him and for everybody there.”

Sue and Mike have spoken of how they had to alert nursing staff to the fact that their father had stopped breathing.

“Honestly, I do believe that if it hadn’t been for me and my sister being there, no one would have known,” Mike said.

“It rattles my brain to think my dad died there like that – it’s dreadful,” Sue said.

Asked what she would say if given the chance to speak to the health secretary, Sue said: “Pull your finger out and get some money flowing into these hospitals.”

Last week, ITV News broadcast footage from the A&E department at Queen’s Hospital.

It appears to show elderly and vulnerable patients left for days in cramped passageways instead of wards.

Footage shows dozens of patients waiting for a bed on a ward at the A&E department at Queen’s Hospital

Matthew Trainer, Chief Executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals – the Trust which runs Queen’s Hospital – said: “I’d like to apologise to the family of Mr Bass for the fact that he died, after deteriorating rapidly, while being cared for in the hospital corridor.

“No one should be receiving corridor care. We’ve recruited additional staff to look after patients and carry out regular observations.

“With the A&E at Queen’s Hospital under so much pressure, we can either keep patients on ambulances or bring them into a corridor where they will have better access to resus and to medical and nursing staff.”

Patients being treated in a corridor as hospitals struggle to cope. / Credit: ITV News

It has become increasingly common for NHS hospitals to care for patients in corridors when there are no beds available on wards.

A study carried out by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has today revealed that almost one in five patients in A&E departments are being cared for in corridors and waiting rooms at any one time.

The Royal College is calling on governments across the UK to tackle the “shameful practice” which they say has become “endemic”.

“The stark picture this paper paints reflects the stories we hear from our members nationwide – the volume of which are growing as we head into winter,” said Dr Ian Higginson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

“We cannot wait years for things to improve. Patients and hard-working ED staff have been frustrated by the lack of action across the UK, and deserve better from their health service leaders and politicians,” Dr Ian Higginson added.

Responding to the study, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Corridor care is unacceptable, undignified, and has no place in our NHS.

“That is why we will be publishing corridor waiting figures for the first time, so we can take the steps needed to eradicate it from our health service. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

“It will take time to turn around the shocking situation we inherited, but we are already seeing green shoots of recovery, with ambulances arriving 10 minutes faster to stroke and heart attack patients than last year and handovers also almost 10 minutes quicker.”