A mum has died after waiting on an A&E trolley for two days at a West Lothian hospital.
Ruth Tonks died in Livingston’s St John’s Hospital on Monday, January 2 after developing a sudden chest infection over Christmas.
The pensioner, 86, was left without privacy for two days before a bed was found.
Her son Karl, an advanced nurse practitioner at a GP clinic in Fife, praised hard-working medics toiling in “war zone” conditions and said the pressure they faced on the frontline was worse than ever.
The 51-year-old told STV News: “There were patients everywhere, staff running around struggling.
“It was really busy in there. They actually looked psychologically tired.
“I knew it was going to be a nightmare in there. The only reason she got into the recess area rather than sitting outside in the back of an ambulance was because of how seriously unwell she was.”