AN old soldier died of pneumonia a day after waiting nearly seven hours for a hospital bed.

Frail Cecil Makin had been released from Warrington Hospital only two weeks before. He had been in hospital for eight weeks battling against a chest infection.

Mr Makin, who was commended for his "exemplary conduct" in the Second World War, had been vomiting and could hardly walk .

But despite his weak condition, the grandad-of-six, had to wait at his home in Sharp Street, Warrington, for 4.5 hours before an ambulance arrived. His family claims a GP failed to turn up.

The 78-year-old widower then had a further wait on a hospital trolley in the casualty department before being transferred to a bed.

The following day, Mr Makin died of bronchial pneumonia. Hs devastated family were sat at his hospital bedside.

Now Mr Makin's family are considering suing the Manchester Road GP practice, where he was a patient, run by Dr Paul Davis and partners.

His son, Bryn Makin, who lives in Gainsborough Road, said: "I'd hate it for other old people in the town to have to go through what my dad did. It just makes me so angry.

"My brother and I haven't been able to face my dad's GP yet because we are trying to calm down first and get rid of the bitterness and anger we feel. My brother is thinking about suing the surgery."

"When I went round to see my dad I could tell he was in a real state.

"I phoned his doctor's surgery at 9am to get someone to come and see him and then someone else rang them an hour later.

"We didn't hear anything and eventually I tried the surgery again at 1.30pm and played hell with them. They said they'd send for an ambulance because no doctor was available.

"Five minutes later an ambulance arrived, but then my dad had to wait on a hospital trolley for most of the afternoon."

When the GUARDIAN contacted the doctor's surgery the practice manager refused to comment on the grounds of "patient confidentiality."

A spokesman for Warrington Hospital Trust said the accident and emergency department had to deal with an "exceptionally high level" of serious cases on the day Mr Makin was admitted.

The hospital underlined each patient is seen and assessed by a nurse on arrival and treatment is delivered in order of priority in the casualty department.

The spokesman added: "Staff worked extremely hard under exceptional circumstances to ensure that all patients received appropriate treatment and no patient waited longer than two and a half hours in the department.

"It would be impossible to discuss details of individual cases without breaching patient confidentiality, but all patients are kept under constant supervision throughout their stay in the department."

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