A PENSIONER claims she has been left having nightmares following a stay in what she has branded "workhouse conditions" at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Beryl Johnson, aged 68, of Halifax Drive in St John's, described the Aconbury Unit on Newtown Road as dark and dingy, smelling of damp and in a poor state of repair.

Her comments come shortly after the Worcester News reported how West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer has tabled a question to health secretary Patricia Hewitt asking if she will look into the complaints he has received about the care of the elderly at the Royal and make a statement.

Mrs Johnson said: "The smell of urine and faeces filled the air and I was beside myself - frightened and dreadfully upset."

She also claims she saw confused patients - many of whom had trouble communicating - not being able to get the help they needed.

"I am terrified that I may be put there again - especially if I am unable to complain," she added.

"Management sit totally unaware of the scale of the problems in Aconbury - they do not see the squalor and deprivation that the elderly of Worcester have to suffer.

"These are people who have contributed to the NHS all of their lives and should be treated with utmost respect and given the best care that is available." A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We do take any complaints very seriously," he added.

"We fully investigate every formal complaint we receive, and give a full written response, with an apology if appropriate."

Demolishing the 96-bed Aconbury Unit is one of the options being put forward as part of proposals to cut spending at the county's hospitals by £20m a year.