A WOMAN has criticised the care she received at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, saying staff aren't being given the support they need to properly look after patients.

This comes as Worcester's A&E department experienced its busiest Sunday on record this month.

Diane King, who lives off Tallow Hill in Worcester, went to Worcester's A&E department on Friday, October 2 where an x-ray confirmed she had broken three vertebrae in her back following a fall at home.

Ms King said she waited in A&E for around seven hours before she was admitted to the trauma ward.

"It was awful having to wait so long," the former nursery nurse said.

"During that time I had nothing to eat and was incredibly uncomfortable. When I was on the ward, patients were pressing buttons to ask for help but nurses were just too busy to answer them. I was moved around wards and at one point there were two nurses to around 35 patients, it's disgusting. People weren't being washed because it was taking so long to give out drugs and food. It was horrendous.

"But I don't blame the staff at all. The nurses and doctors and healthcare assistants were all lovely and caring and trying to do the best they could, but they just don't have the support. You can see they are really trying to do their absolutely best, some are staying over their shift time to try to get everything done. They are under-staffed and don't have the support they desperately need. Agency workers could be brought in, but surely it makes more sense in terms of money to just hire more permanent staff.

"At one point I was left sitting in a hard, wooden chair for four hours when I was waiting to go home six days later. One nurse came along and said there was no way I should have been left in the chair with my back injury, and that I should have been waiting on a bed or a stretcher. It's just awful and I wish the people in charge would realise what this is doing to their staff and the patients."

Rab McEwan, interim chief operating officer with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We apologise for the inappropriate treatment Diane received while in our care. We take these concerns very seriously and would encourage her to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service so we can see where things went wrong and improve them in the future.

“We strive to provide the very best care to every patient in our hospitals and we are sorry to hear that this was not achieved on this occasion.

“Unfortunately our A&E departments continue to be extremely busy at the moment, and October 4 was the busiest Sunday on record with 249 attendances at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"Our staff are doing a fantastic job under increasing pressure, but we’re inevitably experiencing longer waiting times. To respond to the increasing demand for services we’re making more space available in the discharge lounge for patients who are ready to go home, changing the way we use some wards and we’re also making extra beds available for winter.”