West Lothian mum dies after being left on hospital trolley for two days

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A dying West Lothian mum was left on a trolley for two days after suddenly being rushed to hospital with a chest infection.Ruth Tonks died on January 2 after being admitted to St John’s Hospital in Livingston on December 28.

Her son, Carl, has spoken of the scenes he witnessed while in hospital and spoke of the immense pressure staff within the NHS are facing.With Ruth being blue lighted from her home in Whitburn to St John’s after coming down with a chest infection, Carl said she was left on a trolley and without any privacy for two days until a room was eventually found.Despite this, Carl said he couldn’t have more appreciation for the staff within the hospital, who he said “made a very difficult situation easier.”Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Carl said: “It all happened quite sudden.

We were all out celebrating her birthday just two weeks ago and on Christmas Day we went out for lunch and that night, she said she wasn’t feeling quite right.“She had COPD and the next day it looked like she may have picked up a chest infection.

I told her to stay in bed that day while I kept her fed and watered as it were but on Tuesday (December 27) she was still in bed which wasn’t like her.