A scathing report into the death of a man on a hospital trolley has blamed medical staff and managers.

Hospital staff have been criticised in a public inquiry report into the death of 74-year-old Thomas Rogers, who spent nine hours on a trolley in a casualty unit.

Medical staff repeatedly ignored the Tyneside-born grandfather as he lay in a corridor at Whipps Cross Hospital, east London.

A nurse only discovered he was dead when she went to move the trolley.

The report criticised doctors for failing to assess the former engineer when he was brought in.

The inquiry found that, if he had been seen within an hour of arriving, he may not have died.

Fifteen recommendations for improvements were made.

The report said the overstretched accident and emergency department allowed 55 other patients, classified as of lower priority, to be treated before Mr Rogers.

His son, Alan, 52, from Fenham, Newcastle, said: "We are very bitter and angry that the report says our father still could be alive today if he had been seen by a doctor."

Mr Rogers, originally from Denton Burn, Newcastle, was taken to hospital after collapsing at home in Woodford Green, Essex.

He had fallen unconscious against a radiator, badly burning his arm, and had lain for some time before being found by a friend at his sheltered accommodation.