An 87-year-old woman who faced a 12 hour wait at A&E on three separate occasions has been “traumatised” by her experiences of the NHS.
After fracturing her hip last September, Winnifred Bolland, a former teacher, waited more than 12 hours before being admitted to a ward when she was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Her 61-year-old daughter, Ann Traynor, said her mother waited another nine hours for an ambulance when she was readmitted to hospital in October after struggling to stand on one of her legs.
Although the Scottish Government’s target is for 95 per cent of patients in emergency departments to be seen within four hours, Bolland was again forced to wait in A&E for around 12 hours and was looked after by ambulance staff in a corridor.
In January, Bolland - who is visually impaired - fell and fractured her other hip at home. She was forced to wait another 12 hours in “freezing” conditions, according to her daughter, who has called for patients in A&E to be given painkillers while they wait.
After her mother was discharged from the hospital, Traynor had to take nearly a month off work to ensure she was safe at home.
Winnifred Bolland was forced to wait more than 12 hours in A&E in January
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She said her mother was discharged from the hospital and told she did not meet the criteria for rehabilitation but was later given access to it.
“Although she was booted out, and I think it’s appalling that she was, I think she was safer at home,” she said.
“She was traumatised there, particularly the second time. There was no dignity in that admission.
“I think she felt like a burden. It’s really sad. I think her generation is very stoic but I think she was badly let down.
“She wouldn’t survive another admission like that.”
Raising the case during First Minister’s Questions last Thursday, Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “Winifred is not alone. These waits for emergency care have skyrocketed since the SNP came to power.”
Winnifred Bolland was looked after by ambulance staff in a corridor
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First Minister John Swinney apologised to Bolland and her family for the wait.
“The health service faces extraordinary pressures as a consequence of the demand for assistance that there is in our healthcare system,” he said.
“As I have recounted to Parliament over the winter period, we have had extraordinary pressures on our healthcare system as a consequence of flu.
“What I can reassure Cole-Hamilton about is that on the latest data available, 12-hour waits in accident and emergency, which are completely unacceptable, are falling.
“Eight-hour waits are falling, still completely unacceptable, but they are falling as we begin to get on top of the implications of that wave of demand that the healthcare system has faced.”
However, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has found that the number of Scots waiting more than 12 hours in A&E has surged to almost 100 times the level it was at in 2011.
Winnifred Bolland was told she did not meet the criteria for rehabilitation when she returned home
PA
There were 76,346 people who waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments in 2024, up from 784 in 2011.
Further, more than 12,000 patients over the age of 85 were forced to wait in emergency departments for more than 12 hours last year, according to a freedom of information by the Lib Dems.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We cannot comment on individual cases, however we would like to apologise to the patient for the delay in the ambulance response and for any distressed caused.
“We would ask the patient or her family to contact our Patient Experience Team directly so we can look into this case further and personally discuss the details with them.”
NHS Lothian has been approached for comment.
