St James's Hospital patient was asked to sleep in shower room Published duration 10 February 2017

media caption A St James's Hospital patient is asked to sleep in a shower room

An asthma patient was reduced to tears after being asked to sleep in a hospital shower room due to pressures on bed space.

Lyn Dexter was taken to St James's University Hospital in Leeds after falling seriously ill on Sunday.

The 68-year-old was asked on Wednesday by a ward sister if her bed could be wheeled into a shower room to free up space on the ward.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it was "very sorry this happened".

After refusing the offer, Ms Dexter said another patient stayed in there overnight instead.

'It was still damp'

"[The sister] said, 'We would leave the door open for you, would you sleep in here overnight?'

"I looked at her and I started crying, I said, 'I'm sorry, I know you're under stress and duress, but the answer's no.'"

"Someone had had a shower in it that evening, it was still damp."

image caption Ms Dexter has made a formal complaint about the incident

Ms Dexter, from Seacroft, was moved to a ward but said she hoped she "never had to go back" to the hospital again.

"The staff work hard, but there's no beds and too many people," she added.

Dawn Marshall, nurse director at the trust, said: "The trust does not regard a large shower room as the right place to temporarily look after a patient, and we are very sorry this happened and have apologised to the patient and their family.

"The decision by the staff on duty to use this room was done with the best of intentions in an attempt to provide more privacy overnight, but we accept this was not an appropriate course of action."

Related Topics NHS

Leeds