Brighton man faces two days in Royal Sussex Hospital A&E corridor

Barbara La Franca said her husband had been rushed into the emergency department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton only to be crammed into a corridor.

Ms La Franca claimed he was left “without any pain medication” and was just one of dozens of patients being treated in corridors at the department.

Her story is the latest in a long list which highlight the issues faced by a department, hospital and NHS system on the brink and struggling to cope with patient demand.

Ms La Franca, 43, of Mile Oak, said: “It makes me furious.

“He was just parked in the corridor for two days. They were putting beds in at every angle.

“He was left without pain medication for several hours. He was also left unable to go to the toilet – he was in the middle of the floor and didn’t want to use a bottle.

Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

“If it wasn’t for me he would have been left without food for over two days. At one point I heard them say they didn’t have enough space in the corridor any more.”

Ms La Franca told The Argus her husband, 39, arrived at the Royal Sussex emergency department on the afternoon of Sunday, October 27, due to a neurological condition he suffers from which had left him unable to walk.

She said her husband was forced to be treated in the corridor due to a lack of space.

She said he continued to suffer from excruciating back spasms but, owing to how stretched the department was, he was left without any pain medication for “several hours”.

Mr La Franca has since been admitted to a formal ward at the Royal Sussex, Ms La Franca said.

The issues with corridor care in the Royal Sussex come nearly two years after The Argus first reported issues with the emergency department.

Patients, doctors and hospital bosses have previously shared their concerns with how stretched the system is.

Images and footage shared by patients at the hospital showed the extent of the problems with the expectation that winter pressures will put even more strain on the department.

Dr Andy Heeps, chief operating officer at University Hospitals Sussex which runs the hospital, said: “We know that sometimes the experience of patients in our emergency departments is simply not good enough, despite the ongoing efforts of staff who are working so hard. We are deeply sorry that this happens because it isn’t acceptable.

“As we move into winter our staff are making a number of changes to try to respond to the rising needs of patients, and ensure they get the care they need even when pressures are so high.

“Alongside the efforts of our staff we know that our partners are also working to reduce the numbers of patients attending A&E in the first place and also to allow patients to move out of hospital more quickly so that we have beds available when people need to be admitted.”