FMQs: Alex Salmond says sorry for disbelieving OAPs left to freeze

ALEX Salmond has been forced to apologise to two pensioners, who were left freezing overnight in a Scottish hospital because there were no blankets on their beds.

Helen Macbeth, aged 92, and stroke victim Jack Barr, 65, were forced to wrap themselves in towels to keep warm.

The First Minister had initially dismissed their concerns as “scare stories”, but he issued an apology after meeting them at Holyrood yesterday

The pair turned up at parliament to hear their cases raised by Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont during First Minister’s Questions.

Labour insists more than half a dozen cases of patients “going without blankets” at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) in Paisley have been uncovered, but says the government has ignored concerns.

The revelation will come as an embarrassment to the SNP, which has pledged to protect the NHS from cuts. The Scottish Government insisted last night there was not a shortage of linen at the hospital itself – but there were often shortages on the wards because of “operational issues”.

Mrs Macbeth, herself a former auxiliary nurse, said she was put in an “absolutely freezing” room during a three-day stay in the RAH at the end of February,

There was only a sheet on the bed and she woke up shivering in the middle of the night. When the great-great-grandmother asked for a blanket, she was told by staff: “I’m very sorry, we don’t have any blankets to give you.”

Staff got additional sheets, but no blanket. Mrs Macbeth, who had a suffered a bowel haemorrhage, was forced to wrap herself in her own bath towel to keep warm.

“I was shocked to think that a hospital that size did not have adequate bedding for their patients,” she added.

“I would like to hope it’s rectified for other people going in, older people especially.”

Mrs Macbeth said both Mr Salmond and health secretary Nicola Sturgeon were “very sympathetic” when they met, adding: “They said they were going to look into it and see what they can to. I hope they’ll be able to do something about it.”

Mr Barr, a great-grandfather, spent three nights in the RAH at the end of last year after suffering a stroke that resulted in him having three fingers amputated.

He was forced to use a beach towel to keep warm, before his family demanded a blanket, but were told by staff: “Sorry, they’re like gold dust just now.”

Mr Barr said: “My daughter’s reply was, ‘I’ll go down to the mortuary and see if anyone there is finished with one.’

“The next morning at half past ten I could not wait to get out of the RAH – it was a very, very bad experience.

“This should not happen to people in this day and age – when you go into a hospital, you expect to be treated well.”

He insisted that the new “sleep-knit” blankets, which are being distributed to patients, were just “glorified sheets”.

Mr Barr added he was “not happy” at Mr Salmond dismissing the concerns as scaremongering, as he clashed with the Labour leader at Holyrood.

“We are not telling lies,” he said. “We have experienced it, and it’s not right.”

Labour says it has heard from many people who have resorted to buying blankets for shivering relatives in the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the issue raised questions over the First Minister’s “honesty and integrity”.

She added: “When we first raised the cases of Helen Macbeth and Jack Barr having to sleep without blankets in hospital, the Scottish Government dismissed their suffering as untrue and a scare story.

“Even today in parliament, Alex Salmond said their story was untrue. Only when confronted by 92-year-old Helen and 65-year-old Jack, who had travelled to Edinburgh from their homes in Renton, did Alex Salmond order an investigation into their treatment.

“They deserve better from the First Minister, just as they deserved better than having to sleep without blankets.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said assurances had been provided during the meeting that Ms Sturgeon would resolve the problems.

She added: “Both the First Minister and health secretary apologised on behalf of the health service for their individual experience and the lack of blankets available during their stays at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.”

Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board says there is no shortage of linen at the hospital and blamed the shortages in wards on “internal operational issues” in getting supplies from the linen store.

Guidance has now been reissued, reminding staff of the process of accessing linen supplies.

“It is important to understand that in a very large and busy hospital such as the RAH, there may be occasions when individual wards – at any given time – can experience pressure on supplies,” a statement added.

“It goes without saying that if an individual ward’s stock of linen is depleted, there are ways to order fresh supplies on a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week basis. On these occasions, linen would usually be borrowed from neighbouring wards.”