A CANCER survivor who credits the NHS with saving her life believes the service is now in crisis after spending five hours in a receptionist’s chair when she was admitted as an emergency patient

Allison White said the admissions ward at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough was like “Piccadilly Circus” when she arrived on Tuesday, November 11, with a severe infection.

“There were old people in wheelchairs lined up in the corridor,” she said. “I was sat on a chair in reception as there was nowhere else to go. I was worried because I have low immunity.”

Miss White, from Newton Aycliffe County Durham, was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia in 2009.

She is now in remission but years of intense chemotherapy have caused severe health problems, including back pain, gynaecological issues that cause her to haemorrhage and bladder problems, which have resulted in a series of urine tract infections.

Miss White, 37, was offered a bed after an hour but had to turn it down as she claims there was a large delve in the mattress.

“It looked as though they hadn’t made it up after the last patient,” she said. “I couldn’t lie on the mattress because of my back.

“They eventually found me a bed at 11.30pm but I didn’t receive any treatment until the next day. I had haemorrhaged overnight and lost a lot of blood.”

Delays with Miss White’s urology treatment at Bishop Auckland Hospital, have added to her frustration.

The final straw came when a registrar waited three working days to write an urgent referral letter to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Miss White, a prolific fundraiser who runs Great Aycliffe Cancer Support Group, said: “The NHS is in crisis. I will always be grateful to the Freeman Hospital for saving my life but it has come at a price.

“I have no social life, I can’t work and I’m in constant pain. I shouldn’t have to fight for the care I need.”

A spokesperson from South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said waiting times at the admissions unit in James Cook could occur due to an overlap between discharges, transfers and admissions.

“We do try and keep waiting to a minimum,” she said. “As it is a very busy unit it could be perceived patients were waiting for long periods of time before being admitted to a bed.”

She said records showed no patient waited longer than an hour for a bed that day, adding: “In line with our infection control policy, all beds are washed and prepared with clean linen prior to a new admission.”

A spokesperson for City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, which runs urology clinics in Bishop Auckland, said: “We are looking into the patient’s future planned appointments - we would reassure her that her care is of the highest priority to us and have contacted her accordingly. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience and worry she has experienced.”