A WOMAN spent more than 24 hours on a trolley at Worcestershire Royal Hospital after being admitted in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Mrs Pauline Freeman, of Rushwick, arrived at the hospital at 5am on Sunday after suffering a mild stroke, and her husband John was horrified by the overcrowding in the accident and emergency unit.

Talking to the Worcester News yesterday morning, he said that she was still on the trolley, although she was being given full medical attention.

He said: "There were trollies with patients on them three deep in the corridor. Ambulances were lined up outside. There were ten people waiting to be treated and no beds at all.

"The nurses and porters were all doing a fantastic job with the resources they had, it's just that there were too many people. They were running out of blankets and pillows."

"It's a disgrace and I'm going to write to my MP about it. I was talking to one of the senior doctors, and he was saying it's nothing to do with the number of lads coming in after drinking and fighting. They get patched up and sent on their way. It's because of the number of ill patients who need serious treatment.

"I heard that it was so bad the hospital executives had a meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss what was happening. A porter told me that at one stage it was so bad they were taking patients away to another hospital."

He also said that yesterday, hospital staff were clearing out the hospital's decontamination room to make room for more beds.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Worcestershire Royal said: "The A and E

unit has been extremely busy over the Christmas and New Year periods. We are working hard to make sure all our patients are dealt with as soon as possible, and we offer our apologies to those who have had to wait."