I was horrified after my terminally ill wife was forced to sleep on the floor at Blackpool Victoria Hospital

Madeleine Butcher had a full hysterectomy around 18 months ago after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022.

It was hoped she would get the all-clear following the operation, but it sadly spread further and she was later told she had terminal endometrial cancer.

The 62-year-old has since been forced to visit A&E on a number of occasions due to sepsis following her chemotherapy treatment.

Her husband John , 61, said: “It’s always the same routine. You ring 111 and they tell you to go to A&E.

“You go to A&E and wait for a bit before going into an assessment area.

“She’s usually in for about ten days before coming out again after having antibiotics, an IV, fluids and other stuff to get the infection levels down.”

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Mr Butcher took his wife to the hospital again at around 3am on Sunday as she was suffering from symptoms of an infection.

She received blood tests around 30 minutes after arriving and saw a doctor approximately three and a half hours later who agreed it was likely sepsis.

Despite the prognosis, Mrs Butcher was told she would have to wait in A&E for potentially 36 hours.

She subsequently explained that sitting down for any longer was uncomfortable due to a hernia from her operation and the position of her tumour.

After asking if there was a bed, trolley or even a reclining chair she could use, she was told that nothing was available.

Mr Butcher said the doctor instead gave her a blanket and a pillow so she could lie on the floor.

“I was absolutely horrified. I didn’t realise how angry I was until I got home and I looked at the picture of her on the floor,” he added.

“How is that acceptable in this day and age? A terminally ill patient lying on the floor?

“I still can’t get over the fact that a doctor thought it was acceptable for her to lie on the floor for that long.”

Mr Butcher says the nurses took action once they saw what had happened and managed to get her a trolley within half an hour.

But the incident has left him angry as he believes the situation could have been resolved straight away.

He is also frustrated at the system and how difficult it is for his wife to get the treatment she needs.

“Some of the staff are fantastic, but the systems just don’t seem to be in place to deal with how busy they get,” Mr Butcher added.

“The annoying thing from our point of view is that we know exactly what’s wrong, but you’ve got to go through the assessment and waiting process every time.

“Even if oncology rings down and says she needs to be admitted, you’ve still got to go through A&E and listen to the drunks. It’s not a nice place to go.”

Marie Forshaw, Acting Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professionals and Quality, said: “We have received a formal complaint about Mrs Butcher’s care in the Accident and Emergency department.

“I’d like to thank her for coming forward and am very sorry if the quality of care she has received did not meet the high standards our patients should expect.

“Any complaint we receive is thoroughly reviewed so we can understand the situation and put into practice any improvements that are needed.”