A man with a suspected broken leg was turned away from A&E, a Cumbrian MP has claimed.
Tim Farron, who represents Westmorland & Lonsdale, said he had written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting about the incident, which he said happened on Monday night.
The elderly man from Kendal had a fall, Mr Farron said, and had to be driven to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary by a friend after he was told there were no available ambulances.
Once he arrived at A&E, he was told there was an eight-hour wait and was advised to return the next day to try to be seen, Mr Farron added.
Mr Farron said in a letter to Mr Streeting: “This is an absolutely appalling state of affairs, and not what my constituents deserve.
“Despite the best efforts of the dedicated staff who work there, A&E at Lancaster is a terrible bottleneck; it’s always congested, in part because it is too small to be fit for purpose.
“Our local NHS had been working incredibly hard on plans for a new hospital in Lancaster.
“They’d designed it, identified a new site, and had just begun a consultation with residents. That was until your department announced that work on a new hospital won’t be allowed to start until 2035 at the earliest.
“The congestion in A&E is also partly due to 25% of the beds at Lancaster being occupied by people who cannot leave hospital because of inadequate social care.
“And yet, the absolutely critical review the Government has commissioned into social care won’t finish reporting back until 2028.
“Secretary of State, while we wait another three years for the review into social care to conclude, and while we wait another 10 years for work to start on building a new A&E in Lancaster, please will you outline what immediate work your department is doing to reduce the perilous state of our local health services?”
Dr Helen Skinner, chief medical officer at the trust, said: “Our emergency department at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary is currently managing extremely high levels of demand and our top priority is keeping our patients safe.
“We recognise the significant pressures on our services and understand that we are not always able to see patients as quickly as we would like.
“We are working hard to make changes that will improve the experience of our patients and reduce waiting times.
“While we can’t comment on individual cases, we would urge anyone who is unhappy with their care to contact us directly so that we can look into it.
“Please help us keep our hospitals free for those who really need it by considering the full range of options available.
“If you are unsure where to go for medical advice or treatment, NHS 111 can help direct you to the most appropriate place for your care.”
