Visitor describes Stoke Mandeville Hospital as 'disaster' zone after collecting relative from A&E

A visitor to Stoke Mandeville Hospital was left “speechless” by the conditions for patients and staff at the famous centre.

She said the hospital looked like it was coping with the aftermath of a recent disaster.

The Aylesbury Vale resident told The Bucks Herald: “We were shocked and left speechless at just how many people were in A&E and queueing to get booked in. But then even more shocked to walk through the emergency department to see every cubicle full and bed after bed left in cold corridors. It really looked like the aftermath of a disaster. Patients were screaming. It was really traumatic. People will die because there are not enough staff or room for everyone.”

She was visiting the hospital last Thursday evening (27 January), with her husband to collect her father-in-law who required hospital treatment.

A Buckinghamshire NHS spokesman told The Bucks Herald: “The Trust declared a critical incident in December due to severe and sustained operational pressures across our services. Although the critical incident was stood down just a few days later, the Emergency Department (also known as A&E) at Stoke Mandeville remains very busy. We are seeing high levels of people with flu as well as COVID-19. We’ve also had a high number of our own employees who have been off work sick, which has made the situation more difficult.

“We would like to apologise to those that have had to wait a long time to be seen or have had to wait for a bed and thank you for your continued support and understanding. Our focus remains making sure our patients are safe and that we keep our critical services running for our most vulnerable residents both in our hospitals and in people’s homes.

“We are working with our partners in health and social care to make sure that patients are seen in the right place as quickly as possible and are safely discharged from hospital as quickly as possible.”

Stoke Mandeville was one of many health facilities to declare a ‘critical incident’ this winter with waiting times for hospital beds continuing to soar to record highs nationally.