A FAMILY say their father was left on a hospital trolley for 32 hours despite suffering from three heart attacks.

William Thomas, 74, of Bettws, was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital by ambulance on February 17 at around 3pm after suffering a heart attack at home.

But once he got into hospital, his daughter Sandra Thomas says he was left in the accident and emergency waiting corridor on a trolley and suffered a second heart attack at around 6pm.

His son Roger, who was with him at the time, was forced to leave his father to get help and run into the nearest room which was the resuscitation roomwhere he claims he was shouted at by a nurse to get out.

After finding help, his dad was then taken to the resuscitation room and treated.

But later in the night Mr Thomas said he suffered a third heart attack at around 3am, by which time he was on the trolley in a cubicle at this point.

When Ms Thomas visited him at 9am he was on a monitor but was still on the trolley.

It was not until 11pm that night that she says her father was finally moved onto a ward and given a bed.

She said she was also angry as during the day on February 18, he had been given porridge for breakfast and a sandwich at lunch but was then offered sandwiches again at around 7pm. He was given tea and toast at 10pm but this was his first hot food since breakfast.

Once on the ward Mr Thomas underwent an angiogram and had angioplasty surgery to have a stent inserted in his heart.

He was discharged on February 25 but the family say they are also angry after Mr Thomas was placed on a ward next to a patient suffering from a chest infection after his surgery and has since been diagnosed with a chest infection.

Ms Thomas said: “We are just really angry about it.”

She said she is in the process of making a formal complaint about what happened.

Health board issue apology

AN ANEURIN Bevan health board spokesman said: “In order to protect the confidentiality of our patients it is not appropriate to comment in detail on aspects of their care or treatment.

“During periods when our accident and emergency and medical admissions units are very busy, patients can wait longer than we would wish for a bed on a ward. We would always apologise for any concern or inconvenience this causes. If Mr Thomas, or members of his family, wish to address their concerns to us they will be thoroughly looked into and we will contact them directly with our findings.”