A great-grandmother had her right leg amputated after she spent four days on a cart in a hospital hallway, her family claims.
Geraldine Newing was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent on Good Friday, March 29, with a septic foot infection.
But relatives claim she was then left on a trolley for days waiting to be seen, before a surgeon said on April 2 that urgent action was needed.
The 78-year-old was told she could die if her leg was not amputated and taken for life-changing surgery.
Mrs Newing’s son, father-of-two Michael Newing, has blasted the quality of care she received, claiming so much of her leg might not have had to be amputated if she had been treated earlier.
Geraldine Newing was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent on Good Friday with a septic foot
Great-grandmother Mrs Newing, 78, pictured with her daughter Teresa
Mrs Newing’s son Michael believes his mother might not have amputated as much of her leg as she had previously been seen
Mr Newing, 57, said: ‘It’s disgusting how she was treated. It was like a war up there, that’s the only way to describe it.
‘It is especially humiliating for the elderly. For five days she was only seen by nurses and care workers and there were no washing facilities.’
The family first sought medical attention at Mrs Newing’s home in Sittingbourne, Kent, late last month and decided to go to MedOCC – an on-call service that deals with urgent care issues when GP surgeries are closed – when her condition worsened.
The factory worker from Sittingbourne said: ‘MedOCC told us she needed urgent help.
“They took one look at her foot and said she needed someone to see her there and then.
“They tried for two hours, but none of the counselors on call answered.”
She was then taken to hospital and five days later Mrs Newing’s husband Anthony was suddenly told his wife would have to undergo shock surgery.
Her right leg was amputated from the knee down, with doctors warning she could die if the operation was not carried out.
Mrs Newing remains in hospital, where she is on a drip and antibiotics to fight the infection.
Her son, Mr Newing, added: ‘She is not doing well. If someone had looked closely at her foot on Friday when she first went to the hospital, it might not have been so serious.
“Maybe she would have lost her foot or some toes or something. The surgeon said if he hadn’t amputated the leg, my mother wouldn’t be here today.’
Mr Newing said he and his family are shocked by the treatment his mother, who is diabetic and has had strokes in the past, has received.
The family have now filed a complaint against Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, over her initial treatment.
Mr Newing added that his mother unfortunately suffered a blood clot in the lung and another problem with her heart.
He also claims that while she was waiting for a doctor’s visit, there were at least ten 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 that hospital hallway.
The great-grandmother was told that she could die from her septic foot if her leg was not amputated
Michael claimed there were ten patients on carts with poor washing facilities
‘My mother was there for four days and she didn’t wash herself. My mother is a very beautiful person.
‘It was so bad that she said she smelled… It was her foot that smelled, but we couldn’t tell her that.
“When they changed the bandage on her foot, they took it off, cleaned the foot and put the same dirty bandage back on because they were out of bandages.
“There’s no compassion up there, no dignity. It is humiliating for every older person.
“And they’re building more houses in the area, so the hospital just can’t handle it.”
The family also met with a lead hospital investigator 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 from their concerns about her care.”
MailOnline has contacted Medway NHS Foundation Trust for further comment.