Patients being treated in chairs for days at Prince Charles Hospital
In Merthyr Tydfil, patients seen in A&E are being treated in armchairs due to lack of beds available.
Hello and welcome to The Valleys Lead.
Thanks as always for joining us this week. Today, we are telling you another story of another hospital struggling under a crumbling NHS. This isn’t the fault of nurses or doctors tirelessly doing their best for patients, but of an overstretched system that needs reform.
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The Valleys Briefing
(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)
The RSPCA is looking for information about a dog who was described as “skin and bones” when rescued from a back garden in Merthyr Tydfil. The male lurcher cross was found in a property in Ash Crescent on February 24 by police, rushed to a vets in Bridgend by an RSPCA worker, and received emergency treatment. The lurcher could barely stand up and was chained to a filthy shed. His spine and ribs were visible and he was suffering from a wound to a back foot. The brindle-coloured lurcher, who was not microchipped, was initially treated with fluids and antibiotics. Over the past month the dog, who has been renamed Reggie, has made a good recovery and he has found a loving new home with one of the veterinary nurses that cared for him. The charity is asking that anyone who might know the owner come forward with details. People can contact the RSPCA on 0300 1238018 and quote reference number 01737766.
The Green Party’s only councillor in Caerphilly has said that the UK should consider making plans for World War II-style rationing of resources in the event of “protracted” hostilities in the Middle East. He made the statement at a council meeting on Tuesday, warning resources were already “becoming more scarce.” The leader of the Council, Jamie Pritchard, said the election period leading up to May 7 would curtail his ability to respond fully, and suggested the matter should be debated when the council convenes again after the Senedd elections.
The number of cremations held without a ceremony is on the rise in Rhondda Cynon Taf according to a report from the council. The number of “direct” cremations (cremations that takes place with no ceremony and no mourners present) in RCT rose by 43 from 110 in 2023/24 to 153 in 2024/25. In the UK, 20% of bodies are disposed of by direct cremation, with predictions that 50% of the UK population will choose direct cremation within 20 years. 80% of people are cremated in the UK. These statistics suggest that people can’t afford funerals and burials, with a simple funeral service now costing up to nearly £10,000.
Patients are being treated in armchairs for days at Prince Charles Hospital
When Gareth Eife, 69, attended his GP on Tuesday, 17 March for painful cellulitis on his legs and a rash all over his body, the doctor advised him to head to his nearest A&E at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. Gareth was told by his GP that he should have a minimum of 48 hours of IV antibiotics.
“Then he waited in A&E, sitting in a hard, broken, metal chair, for 12 hours,” Gareth’s brother-in-law, Paul Smith, told The Valleys Lead. “He was in agony. He told the staff he needed to elevate his legs because the pain was excoriating, but he was told by the nurse on duty that there were no beds, no chairs, no trolleys, and nowhere for him to elevate his legs.”
Paul tried to Gareth help, imploring a nurse for help, but the nurse told Paul: “Don’t blame us – blame the politicians.”
When it came time for Gareth to be seen and treated, there weren’t any available beds to place him in, even though the GP had phoned ahead to ensure a bed would be available for Gareth.
“The hospital has put hand chairs in the back of A&E and treat them as clinical care chairs,” Paul said.
One of these chairs were offered to Gareth, along with 25 other people who he sat alongside.
“Some of them had been in those armchairs for three or four days, and some for just a day,” Paul said. “There were no washing facilities, so they had to use a sink in the toilets. They had no bedding, and people were complaining about needing blankets because they were cold. Their meals were served on paper plates with a wooden spoon and fork, but there were no trays or tables – they had to eat the food on their laps. They were all wearing the same clothes they came in with. The place was filthy with so much rubbish on the floor. They have drip stands and various acute and serious illnesses, but they are being treated in an environment which isn’t conducive to improving care.”
For three days, Gareth sat in the armchair, suffering with lymphedema.
“His legs were purple, filled with liquid that was weeping onto the floor,” Paul said. “He was in absolute agony.”
Gareth’s wife, Jennifer, went to the shop to buy puppy pads to place under Gareth’s legs to stop the water and puss from soaking the floor. When Gareth asked a nurse to put his prescribed cream on his legs, he was told they “weren’t ward nurses,” and that they don’t rub cream or dress wounds.
“It’s a disgrace,” Paul said.
Gareth isn’t the only one who has been treated in armchairs at Prince Charles Hospital.
