A shocking lack of dignity: Inside A&E unit in the grips of NHS' 'year-round' care crisis - as footage shows elderly patient forced to urinate in the corridor, while others cry out in agony in four-hour ambulance queues Almost 400,000 patients waited more than a day to be seen in A&E last year By Katherine Lawton and Kate Pickles and Piriyanga Thirunimalan Published: 12:14 BST, 24 June 2024 | Updated: 13:08 BST, 24 June 2024 e-mail 119 View comments Heartbreaking footage shows the moment an elderly man was forced to urinate in a bottle in a hospital corridor in full view of staff and other patients amid the NHS care crisis. Secret video footage taken by an undercover reporter working as a trainee healthcare assistant shows the 'profoundly unwell' man lying in the corridor inside the Emergency Department of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. The man, who appears to be in emotional distress, tells staff he needs to go to the toilet before being told it would be easier for him to wee in a bottle.
The patient heartbreakingly agrees before being helped to lift up his gown and urinate 'naked in front of 30 people' in the corridor. Dealing with the ordeal, undercover reporter Robbie tells the man: 'I'm really sorry that you're in the corridor. 'We've got people having to go to the toilet in public in the corridor.
It's not OK. If that was my family member, I'd be fuming.' The distressed elderly patient calls out for someone to help him as he fears he has been 'forgotten' in the corridor.