Patient, 88, Left Lying on Hospital Floor

This story is hard to stomach.

From Scotsman.com:

Politicians yesterday called for an inquiry after an 88-year-old pensioner was left lying on a hospital floor for four hours because staff were not allowed to move him.

Mitchell Cabel, a retired builder, was injured when he fell from a chair while a patient at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen. He was wrapped in blankets, given drugs and left on the cold floor of a ward while hospital staff waited for paramedics.

[ ... ]

Nanette Milne, the Scottish Conservative health spokeswoman, said: "It sounds like bureaucracy took precedence over humanity."

"I hope the health board will look at this forthwith and make sure it doesn't happen again."

A spokeswoman for the health authority said: "NHS Grampian has apologised to the family of the late Mitchell Cabel for any distress caused."

Blame it on the bureaucracy and apologize. Typical. But hold on, here's the gold nugget quote.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Had this gentleman not been in a hospital he would have received a very much faster response."

Translation -- if you want to live, avoid the hospital.