A woman whose dying father was stuck in an A&E waiting room for 25 hours says he was “tortured” by a “broken system”. Beth Hillman, 31, had to watch her terminally ill dad, Paul Hillman, 58, wait for hours for emergency treatment in A&E.
Because he was immunocompromised as a result of chemotherapy to treat his stage three gallbladder cancer, Paul frequently fell ill. Beth claims he would be treated in busy waiting rooms and corridors surrounded by infected patients, often coughing or being sick.
This comes as a damning report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has revealed almost seven in 10 nurses say they deliver care in “overcrowded or unsuitable places”. Beth, from Penge, south east London, said Paul would be vomiting and unwell in a crowded waiting room for up to 25 hours because beds weren’t available.
Beth feared the surroundings could have led to Paul catching an infection that may have proven fatal to him. She said: “Dad would be crammed into tiny rooms with people coughing with chest infections or covid. He wasn’t given any protection.I’d hate to think about if he had caught something in his lungs – his immune system was so weakened from the chemo.”
Paul was diagnosed in April 2022 and was in and out of A&E for emergency treatment until shortly before his death at home in March 2024. Beth remembers the hours and days spent supporting her skeletal, terminally ill father in the A&E waiting room.
She recalled once he sat on cold hard chairs while being sick overnight – and it took 25 hours for staff to find him a proper bed. Another time he was sat waiting on a chair for 15 hours in a waiting room.
She said: “He was shivering, in pain and throwing up – and he couldn’t even have a proper blanket or nearby toilet. There is no privacy or dignity in these situations.”
Beth said the report by RCN comes as no surprise. She said: “I can’t imagine how dad, or any other sick person, would feel to be sat in a waiting room knowing they would die soon, feeling unwell and enduring that torture.This situation needs to change – it might not seem like a big deal until it’s someone you love sat there on a wooden chair.
“There will be so many more people dying in their hands if we don’t fix this broken system.”