THE brother of a man who had to wait for six hours in A&E before he was treated following a heart attack said Hereford County Hospital is "not fit for purpose."

Harry Gow's brother, Christopher, was referred to the hospital by his GP who said he had suffered a silent heart attack and was anaemic and needed a blood transfusion.

They arrived at the A&E department at 4.45pm and were seen by a triage nurse within ten minutes, but then they were left waiting for treatment until a senior nurse came out and apologised at 10pm and Christopher was put on a trolley in the resuscitation room at 10.30pm.

He said it was chaotic in the department on the evening of Monday, August 3. The trust said it was a very busy evening with 145 attendances.

Mr Gow said: "Most of the people who were waiting in A&E were seriously ill people. There was a woman who had been vomiting constantly and she had been there for five hours.

"There were no beds- these people have been GP-referred and needed to go to hospital. But when they get to hospital they are told there is no bed for you."

His brother, Christopher, had a blood transfusion during the night and was still being treated in A&E the following morning. He is now recovering at home in Leominster.

Mr Gow, from Hereford, added: "It was absolutely horrendous. We could hear the frustration in the staff's voices.

"The hospital is just not fit for purpose.

"The staff in A&E- the nurses and doctors- they are very dedicated but they are working in appalling circumstances. I take my hats off to them."

Michelle Clarke, director of nursing and quality at Wye Valley NHS Trust, apologised to Christopher that they were not able to admit him directly to a medical ward.

She added: “This was because there were no suitable inpatient beds available at Hereford County Hospital until the following morning when the situation across the trust had eased.

“The emergency department was very busy on that evening with 145 total attendances, many of these were complex cases, and patients were assessed and treated as quickly as possible, according to their clinical need.

“Like many other hospitals across the country, with more patients requiring care and treatment than ever before there are times when increased demand is affecting our urgent and elective care services, and bed availability."

Ms Clarke said the trust has introduced a number of measures including pro-active management of bed availability; a senior staff member dedicated to managing the patient journey; ward trackers to speed up appropriate patient discharges; and extra emergency department staff.

In the longer term, she said, the trust has announced its five-year estates strategy, subject to funding approval, to rebuild, expand and to invest in more beds and in the latest diagnostic and other facilities.

Ms Clarke added: “The trust has already been given the go ahead to build a new 16 bedded ward at Hereford County Hospital, which will operate as a Frailty Assessment Unit (FAU), providing speciality care and nursing for frail and elderly patients.”