A woman with severe arthritis and osteoporosis spent the night on a hospital car park bench after the doctor told her to leave as there were no beds.

A&E patient 'forced to sleep in car park' - Guardian

Extract:

"A woman with severe arthritis and osteoporosis spent the night on a hospital car park bench after casualty staff told her to leave because there were not enough beds available.

Evelyn Beale, 61, from Lydney, Gloucestershire, was taken to the accident and emergency ward at Gloucestershire Royal hospital by ambulance on April 28 after a fall. Complaining of agonising pain in her back and neck she was given some painkillers by her doctor who then told her there was little he could do because her pain was part of ongoing medical problems.

"He said there were no beds available anyway so he discharged me and told me I could go home," Miss Beale said. "I said I couldn't because I had no money with me and I was only wearing a pair of half-length trousers, a thin top and a very thin coat. I had nothing on my feet."

Despite asking instead if she could stay in the waiting room until someone could come and collect her as she couldn't afford the £40 taxi fare, she was discharged at 2:30am. Miss Beale, who has no family, then spent six hours on a bench in the hospital grounds before walking into the city in her hospital slippers.

"I was frozen and terrified every time someone went by," she said. "They just wanted to get rid of me. It was the one place you would think they would look after you if you were sick, but they couldn't care less ...

"I couldn't walk properly, I was in so much pain. I was stumbling around. People thought I was drunk. I came across a bench and felt quite poorly. I thought 'I'm going to have to lie down'. It was so cold.""

Beggars belief, doesn't it? - But all too often patients on their own find that: "It was the one place you would think they would look after you if you were sick, but they couldn't care less ... "

I consider this medical negligence and that a doctor so lacking in sense and in compassion should not be practising as a doctor. He is clearly a danger to patients.