Mum left in A&E waiting room for three DAYS with excruciating ankle injury

A mum-of-two says she was made to wait on a chair for three days in her local A&E department while in excruciating pain. Leah Rees was taken by ambulance to The Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran on Sunday, January 16, after suffering an ankle injury while out with friends.
After initially being triaged, given an X-ray and a leg cast, the 26-year-old said she was told to stay in the emergency department and wait for a bed to open up on a ward.
However, she said she ended up spending a “nightmare” three days on an “uncomfortable” chair in the unit where she was advised not to eat or drink as she needed an urgent ankle operation.
Ms Rees told ITV News: “”I was in excruciating pain, I was given no rest for my leg or any pillows, and I was absolutely starving because I was nil by mouth.
“I couldn’t even walk to go to the toilet. I just felt like I was ignored for three days.”
Ms Rees, who works as a healthcare assistant for a different hospital in the area, claimed once she was finally seen by a doctor, he informed her the wrong cast had been put on her leg, which meant it had swollen up too much.
Ms Rees added: “The doctor couldn’t believe the tightness of the cast. He said that the plaster should have never been put on as I was at risk of blood clots.
“They then took the cast off, discharged me from the hospital, and said I’d undergo my operation for the ankle injury at St Woolos Hospital in the next few days.
“I’d stayed at the hospital for three days for no reason. I could have been at home in bed.
“They advised me to get a taxi home with a broken ankle and nothing really to support it. I was just shocked at the lack of care. “I was just crying to go home. I felt like discharging myself. I’ve got two little girls and my mum has had to take a week off work to look after them,” she added.
Leah is now set to undergo an operation at St Woolos Hospital, Newport, where metal pins and plates are to be put in place to correct her ankle injury.
A spokesman for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “We are sorry that Ms Rees was not happy with the care that she received and we have been in contact with her to discuss her treatment plan and any concerns regarding our services.
“Our hospital services have remained extremely busy in recent weeks and months due to large amounts of very poorly people, Covid-19 restrictions, and staff shortages.
“When patients arrive at our emergency department they are initially assessed by a nurse and their care is prioritised according to the seriousness of their condition with those patients with life-threatening illnesses and injuries seen first.
“Unfortunately this means that patients with less serious conditions are likely to face longer waits at busy times. We apologise for any distress and discomfort such delays cause.”

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