A PATIENT with a life-threatening heart condition had to wait for more than 10 hours on a trolley at Worcester's new hospital while a bed was found.

His plight was discovered when Kidderminster and District Community Health Council carried out a routine spot-check at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The CHC revealed the man, who had a leaking left ventricle, had to wait in the hospital's casualty department.

It also found 10 other patients who had been waiting for a number of hours on trolleys in A and E.

One man, who had suffered an epileptic fit, had waited more than 13 hours, and another with chest pain had waited for more than six hours.

CHC chairman Pauline Davis said patients had been transferred to Redditch's Alexandra Hospital because no beds could be found.

She said: "Patients have been diverted quite a few times recently and, of course, this is not good anyway."

"But there have also been some extremely long trolley waits, with one patient waiting for more than 13 hours.

"There was a plan to admit him, but there were no beds. I don't know whether this is a teething problem as well."

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust came under fire before the hospital opened for having too few beds.

An inquiry into bed numbers and the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital concluded up to 20 surgical beds should be re-opened in the town to increase capacity.

West Midland South Health Authority will investigate the waits at the Worcester casualty department.

Trust spokesman Richard Haynes said the wait happened at a very busy time at the hospital.

"There are always very busy times and it's sometimes necessary to treat people in A and E," he said.

"The medication they receive and the attention they get from the nurses and consultants is the equal of anything they would receive on the ward."