FRAIL elderly patients were found waiting on trolleys in a cold reception area during a snap inspection.

A report found University Hospital Crosshouse in Kilmarnock was facing extreme pressure due to the number of patients, which was directly affecting "all aspects of care" and leaving staff "frustrated."

Inspectors found two frail patients, one of whom had dementia, on ambulance trolleys in the reception area of the combined assessment unit waiting to be admitted.

The report states: "This area was cold and the patients had to be provided with blankets by the ambulance crews.

"We were told that staff are frustrated at not being able to deliver the care that they would like due to capacity and flow issues within the hospital."

The report concluded that the hospital was facing "significant" operational issues.

Inspectors found patients  being treated in relatives rooms which had not been properly risk assessed, were missing equipment and did not have safety buzzers.

The combined assessment unit was under extreme pressure due to the volume of admissions on the first day of the inspection which was carried out by the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate from October 25-27.

Consultants and senior managers felt that further patients could not be transferred from the emergency department to the unit until the patients who were currently waiting were admitted.

An elderly patient was also found on a trolley next to the nursing station in the admissions unit as there were no cubicles or rooms available within the department, although the patient had been assessed.

Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Anas Sarwar said: “The SNP needs to wake up to the crisis they have created in our NHS thanks to a decade of mismanagement.

“It simply is not credible for the SNP government in Edinburgh to continue to deny the problems in our health service.

“This expert report is the latest intervention highlighting that our NHS is struggling to cope.

"It follows the head of BMA Scotland saying our health service is at breaking point.

“Under the SNP our NHS staff are undervalued, under resourced and under intolerable pressure and it is patients who lose out as a result."

Claire Sweeney, Interim Director of Quality Assurance for Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: “During our inspection we observed many positive interactions between staff and patients.

“However, throughout the inspection it became clear that the hospital was under extreme pressure from the number of patients and that this has had a direct effect on all aspects of care that we observed.

“While we do not underestimate the significant operational issues affecting the hospital, NHS Ayrshire & Arran has a duty to ensure that the care provided to patients under its care is appropriate.”