‘I’m not ashamed to say I cried’ – Cancer patient, 70, shares 27-hour ordeal in hospital

A 70-year-old cancer patient has spoken of his “shattered faith” in the NHS after a horror 27-hour ordeal in his local hospital. “Frustrated” Phil Forder recounted his “dreadful” experience at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff over the Easter weekend, after which he claims he was left in worse health than on admission.

Phil has been living with non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer for the past two and a half years, a disease which he said he had been “successfully fighting”. However, after a shower on Good Friday morning he noticed his right leg had swollen to twice its normal size.

This prompted him to attend his local A&E where, despite a seven hour wait, he left with various scan appointments booked for the next Tuesday.

In an account he shared with Channel 4 news correspondent Andy Davies on X, this is when things took a real turn. With his bag packed and lift arranged that morning he received a phone call asking him to come in half an hour earlier than planned. Luckily, he said, this was not a problem.

He was told to attend the Medical Same Day Emergency Clinic (MSDEC) to sign in, which upon arrival with his friend was “rammed” with patients.

“A member of staff signed me in without looking at me, and we were once again directed along the endless corridors to ultrasound,” Phil said.

“Walking was now really painful. Eventually, we get there and are delighted to see that the waiting room was empty.

“‘The good news is that you have arrived at the right place’, said the man behind the desk, ‘The bad news is they have just gone to lunch. They’ll be back in an hour.’”

When the staff did return from lunch Phil found he was fourth in line despite having been the first to arrive there. But he said the staff were “friendly” enough and seemed genuinely concerned.

They scanned his leg and said they would send the results across shortly and told them they now needed to get back to MSDEC.

“I really am struggling to walk now,” Phil said. He requested a wheelchair but was told he would need to wait an hour for a porter. Phil’s friend was not allowed to push the chair as he “wasn’t trained to do so”.

“Fortunately, a nurse who genuinely cared, overheard the conversation and volunteered to push me back,” he said.

When they got there, MSDEC was even more rammed than before and they prepared for another long wait.

“With so many people crammed in, the heat was becoming unbearable,” Phil said. “My friend who had stayed with me and had been wilting for some time tells me he is going home.”

Phil was left waiting there for around five hours and was eventually called to see a doctor at 7pm, he said.

After seeing his leg the doctor decided he should stay in overnight. “To be honest this is a relief,” Phil commented.

But this needed to be agreed on by another doctor, and instead Phil was told he will go home with some painkillers and blood thinners to prevent a stroke or heart attack.

Phil said: “This is disappointing as I am exhausted, drowsy with the pain killers they have already given me and it is getting late.

“He also tells me that I’m not getting blood tests now because I didn’t show up for my appointment today.”

It turned out someone had mistakenly reported Phil as having gone home and he was told to come back again tomorrow.

By this point Phil was experiencing cramping in his stomach and the first doctor said they will review the decision to send him home.

He was left waiting again until 10pm when he was told the unit was closing.

Phil said: “A porter is going to take me upstairs to see the second doctor. However, all hope of a quick decision fades when the doors kick open. My heart drops. The corridor is full of wheelchairs full of people and I am pushed into a small room that is completely gridlocked.”

He added: “My bottom is numb, my leg is agony. I should keep it raised but there’s no way I can. I look around and everyone looks like they have lost the will to live.

“They’ve all been here a while. It is stuffy with spilt water on the floor.”

Eventually the doctor appeared and told him he needs to go home, saying he has booked Phil in for a CT scan in 10 days.

“At this point something inside me dies,” Phil said. “I’ve got lymphoma, a leg swollen from hip to foot, acute stomach pains and I can’t walk but that’s not sick enough to be treated.

“Out of the three appointments I was booked in for, I’ve had one and he now tells me the result of that was inconclusive and will need to be repeated. I give up. I’ve now been here twelve hours.”

He was moved to a “cupboard-like room” where he fell asleep for a time and was later awoken by a nurse arriving with painkillers.

She was followed in by the doctor who asked whether he had booked a taxi to go home.

“The front entrance is miles away,” Phil said. “He tells me he will order a porter to take me there but after two hours I’m still waiting. The doctor seems to have gone and there’s no porter.

“I am not ashamed to say I cried. No one comes to see me.”

At 2am a doctor comes in with Phil’s notes. She told him that the original prescription has been changed and she will give him a blood thinning injection instead.

According to Phil, she said: “You’ll be staying here now. It’s too late for you to go home but unfortunately, we don’t have a spare bed. You can lie on this trolley till we need it”.

But it wasn’t long before the trolley was needed and Phil was back in the waiting room on a hard chair.

“Patients are moaning about their waits: 20 hours, 18 hours,” he said. “I win, I’ve been there the longest in the waiting game. bNo one is being called. It feels like we are forgotten.”

Eventually, he was called for a CT scan – the one he thought he wouldn’t have for 10 days.

“My shattered faith resurrects slightly,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I’m only there for a few minutes before being back in the Hades waiting room. 24 hours and counting.”

After a total of 27 hours, a man in a uniform appeared with another wheelchair and told Phil he’s being transferred to Llandough Hospital, which specialises in cancer.

An ambulance is waiting outside for him, which Phil knew nothing about.

Recounting his experience, Phil said: “I was told previously that the best cure for cancer, more than any treatment, is to maintain a healthy outlook on life and keep positive. I truly believe this to be the case.

“However, my 27 hours in the Heath [University Hospital of Wales] did exactly the opposite; killing any positivity I had and replacing it with disappointment and frustration. I seriously hope I never have to return there.”

He also shared a picture of his swollen leg, “so much worse after my visit,” he said.

Phil has since returned for further treatment in a different part of the hospital, this time with haematology and chemotherapy services.

He praised the “empathy and professionalism” of the staff there and said the standard of care has been “first rate”.

In response to his experience, a spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr Forder’s experiences whilst in our care and fully acknowledge that this has fallen short of the standard of care we expect to provide for our patients.

“While we are unable to comment on individual patient cases, during the time Mr Forder was with us, our Emergency and Acute Medicine services were under an extreme amount of pressure, following a four-day period of industrial action and the Easter bank holiday weekend which resulted in a high volume of patients presenting as acutely unwell.

“We are aware that a concern has been raised on behalf of Mr Forder that will be addressed through our formal concerns process.”