AN 84-YEAR-OLD woman from Leonard Stanley was left waiting 10 hours in extreme pain to have her dislocated shoulder put back in place.

She arrived at Stroud General Hospital at 11.15am on Monday, January 23 after falling and dislocating her shoulder.

But for the next five hours she was kept in the waiting room in a state of shock, despite telling staff her pain registered as 10 – when asked where it was on the scale.

After this response she was given two paracetamol and eventually had two x-rays before she was finally told – after a further hour - that she must go to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Figures on the NHS Crisis Tracker website show that 12 per cent of patients in GL5 wait more than four hours to be seen in A&E, more than double the government target of five per cent.

They also identify the funding gap in the area as a staggering £226million.

The 84-year-old’s son told the SNJ: “This is a very serious case and I believe it falls well below what you would consider acceptable and created what I consider to be a high risk to my mother’s life.

“She is extremely fit and healthy and exceptionally tough for her age, when I saw her some 43 hours after her discharge from hospital she was in good spirits and recovering well.

“But I am sure that the unbelievable ordeal she went though could have easily caused heart failure in some people of her age.”

She was driven to Gloucester in her daughter’s car in clear discomfort and frequently in tears during rush hour traffic.

A doctor at GRH promptly administered morphine, gas and air to dull the pain, but because the shoulder had now been out around eight hours it was increasingly difficult to relocate.

Their efforts continued for another hour.

Staff had to sedate her further to alleviate the intense pain partly caused by efforts to relocate the shoulder, finally at around 9.15pm her shoulder was successfully relocated, 10 hours after the start of the process.

She was discharged and returned home to Leonard Stanley at 11.30pm.

Her son said: “As you can imagine my mum and I and the rest of my family are extremely upset about this.

“We never want anyone else to have to go through that unbelievably prolonged ordeal of excruciating pain - and risk of heart failure for something that could be dealt with in minutes if treated immediately.

“We are not seeking compensation because that is not going to help the NHS and we do not want to point the finger at individual staff at Stroud.

“Stroud needs a hospital but that hospital must be properly resourced to deliver a reasonable level of service, and clearly this shocking episode fell well short.”

A spokesman for Healthwatch Gloucestershire told the SNJ that they would be monitoring the situation, and that they have met with partners in the group to discuss the incident and do so on a regular basis.

They said they were very confident that Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust would deal with it and handle it very well.

Candace Plouffe, chief operating officer at Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust, said: "The trust has conducted a full investigation into this incident, and we are grateful to the family for contacting and working with us so that we can use what we have learned to continue to improve our services.”

The family has been contacted and are happy with how the situation is being resolved.