Woman, 87, ‘traumatised’ after enduring 12-hour wait in A&E three times

An 87-year-old woman who waited around 12 hours at A&E on three separate occasions has been left “traumatised” by her experience of the NHS, her daughter has said.

Ann Traynor, 61, from East Lothian, said her mother Winifred Bolland found the ordeal “frightening and degrading”.

Ms Bolland, a former teacher, was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh last September after fracturing her hip.

She was later discharged but in October was readmitted after struggling to stand on one of her legs. She waited nine hours before an ambulance arrived and was looked after by ambulance staff in a corridor, her daughter, who is a nurse, said. 

Ms Bolland was again then forced to wait in A&E for around 12 hours.

In January, Ms Bolland, who is visually impaired, fell and fractured her other hip at home. Ms Traynor said she and her mother, who was in pain, had to wait around another 12 hours in “freezing” conditions.

She said her mother was discharged from the hospital and told she did not meet the criteria for rehabilitation, but was later given access to it.

She told how she had to take nearly a month off of work to ensure her mother was safe at home.

“She doesn’t ever want to go back to the Royal Infirmary,” Ms Traynor said.

“She was traumatised there, particularly the second time. There was no dignity in that admission.

“I think she felt like a burden. It’s really sad. I think her generation is very stoic but I think she was badly let down.

“She wouldn’t survive another admission like that.

“Although she was booted out, and I think it’s appalling that she was, I think she was safer at home.”

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Source: The Scotsman, 3 March 2025