Grange Hospital deemed ‘dangerous’ online but staff call it safest in Wales

One of those extra spaces is located behind some cubicles at the back of the A&E.

Margaret Giles, 84, from nearby Croesyceiliog, has spent the past nine hours on a trolley there, after slipping and injuring her hip.

“It’s not satisfactory – but needs must,” she says.

But Alan, Margaret’s husband, is angry.

“I went to see the lady at the desk [during the night] because she wanted to go to the toilet… and [the lady] said ‘can’t she walk to the toilet?’ I said ‘no! It’s a suspected broken hip’.”

There is relief when X-rays show Margaret’s hip isn’t broken, and soon she’ll be able to go home.

Staff tell us there are strict criteria meaning only the least sick patients can be kept in these open spaces – but it’s an experience both Margaret and Alan don’t want to repeat.

“We’ve never been in here before,” Alan gestures , “it’s the first time for me – and hope it’s the last.”

“I don’t think it’s the staff, it’s the system.”