A great-grandmother had her right leg amputated after spending four days in a trolley in a hospital hallway, her family said.
Geraldine Newing was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent with a septic foot infection on Good Friday, March 29.
But relatives say she was then left on a stretcher for days and had to wait for treatment, before a surgeon said on April 2 that urgent action was needed.
The 78-year-old woman was told she could die if her leg was not amputated and was taken for life-changing surgery.
Mrs Newing’s son, father-of-two, Michael Newing, criticized the level of care she received and said she might not have needed so much of her leg amputated if she had been treated sooner.
Geraldine Newing was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent with a septic foot on Good Friday.
Great-grandmother Mrs Newing, 78, pictured with her daughter Teresa.
Mrs Newing’s son Michael believes his mother would not have needed so much of her leg amputated if she had been cared for sooner.
Newing, 57, said: “It’s disgusting the way they treated her.” It was like a war up there; That’s the only way to describe it.
‘It is especially degrading for older people. For five days she was cared for only by nurses and orderlies and there were no washing facilities.’
The family first sought medical attention late last month at Ms Newing’s home in Sittingbourne, Kent, and decided to turn to MedOCC, an on-call service that deals with urgent care issues when doctors’ offices GPs are closed, when their condition deteriorated.
The Sittingbourne factory worker said: ‘MedOCC told us he needed urgent attention.
‘They took one look at her foot and said she needed someone to see her right then.
“They tried for two hours, but none of the consultants on duty answered.”
She was then taken to hospital and, five days later, Mrs Newing’s husband Anthony was suddenly told that his wife would have to undergo shock surgery.
His right leg was amputated from the knee down and doctors warned he could die if surgery was not performed.
Mrs Newing remains in hospital, where she is receiving drips and antibiotics to combat the infection.
Her son, Mr Newing, continued: “She is not very well. If someone had examined her foot properly on Friday, when she first entered the hospital, perhaps it would not have been so serious.
‘Maybe he would have lost his foot or some fingers or something. The surgeon said that if she hadn’t amputated his leg, my mother wouldn’t be here now.
Newing said he and his family are dismayed by the treatment his mother, who is diabetic and has suffered strokes in the past, has received.
The family has now lodged a complaint against Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, over his initial treatment.
Newing added that, unfortunately, her mother developed a blood clot in her lung and another problem with her heart.
He also claims that while he was waiting to see a doctor, there were at least 10 other patients in temporary beds with poor washing facilities.
He continued: ‘It’s 2024. People say it’s not that bad, but I saw a person die in the hospital corridor.
Great-grandmother was told she could die from a septic foot if her leg was not amputated.
Michael claimed there were 10 patients on trolleys with poor washing facilities.
“My mother was there for four days and she didn’t wash; my mother is a very clean person.”
‘It was so bad that she said it smelled bad… It was her foot that smelled, but we couldn’t tell her.
‘When they changed the bandage on his foot, they took it off, cleaned his foot and put the same dirty bandage back on because they had no more bandages.
‘There is no compassion or dignity up there. It’s degrading to any older person.
“And they are building more houses in the area, so the hospital is simply not going to keep up.”
The family also met with a chief medical examiner at the hospital earlier this week to discuss their complaint.
Sarah Vaux, interim head of nursing at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very sorry that Mrs Newing has waited so long in our emergency department.
‘We are in contact with her and her family to investigate and learn about their concerns about her care.’
MailOnline has contacted Medway NHS Foundation Trust for further comment.