A WHISTLE-BLOWING nurse on the front line at the Royal Bolton Hospital's accident and emergency department claims staff are reduced to tears as they struggle to find beds for sick patients.

The nurse, who refuses to be named for fear of losing her job, said it was not unusual for patients to lie for up to 23 hours on a trolley in the corridor waiting for a bed.

Nurses are also fed up of turning the other cheek when faced with a torrent of abuse from patients unable to get beds because of the shortage.

Struggle

The nurse said staff were becoming ill in the struggle to care for patients, causing more staff shortages and more expense for the town's hospital trust.

The nurse's comments came after a report that the hospital is facing a £3 million debt.

The hospital claims the financial crisis has been caused by a £356,000 overspend on paying extra nurses to relieve exhausted staff in June, and rising numbers of emergency admissions and pressures on acute beds.

But the nurse said: "We often have 16 patients in casualty and only eight beds to put them in -- there's nothing we can do.

"We understand that A&E will always remain busy. People in Bolton can't get appointments to see their GPs so they turn up at casualty, which is the normal thing to do.

"We hear of talk about the winter pressures. That's ridiculous -- this is constant pressure."

She added: "We often hear all about the abuse that patients get at the hands of the NHS, but what about the staff? We always have to smile sweetly and tell people the bad news that there are no beds. I have seen nurses cry on duty, they are so tired and frustrated.

"I know of patients being woken up in the middle of the night and taken by ambulance to another hospital because the bed they have been admitted to is no longer available to them.

"Nurses are at the frontline and are having to face the wrath of patients. It's not us that provide the beds. We're here to tell everyone the bad news."