A FORMER soldier from Calne feels that he has been let down by the NHS after spending hours waiting to be seen at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Justin Durrant, 41, of Calne, who was medically discharged from the army after 23 years in 2015, is appalled with the way he was treated after being admitted to the Swindon hospital on March 10.

Mr Durrant, who suffers from PTSD, was forced to wait in A & E for 15 hours suffering from pneumonia, which he had contracted whilst being treated for pericarditis, a swelling of the heart, on Kingfisher Ward.

He fell ill after being discharged, went to his GP and was sent back to the hospital. Mr Durrant, who uses a wheelchair regularly because of injuries sustained during active service, was horrified when he found himself waiting for hours for treatment.

“I was admitted to A & E at 12.20am on March 10 because I had chest pains. I felt absolutely horrible and wasn’t offered water or anything else," he said.

"I was waiting for 15 hours in A & E. I had to sleep with my head against a sink as I was waiting in a wheelchair, I hadn't slept for 36 hours by that point. When I was finally seen I was put on oxygen constantly until the following Monday but was then discharged again.

"My wife and I went to our GP as I was still in pain but then we were referred back to A & E when I spent a further 12 hours waiting,” said Mr Durrant.

“I have been in field hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan where I have been treated better and more promptly. I shouldn’t have been discharged so quickly. From the first visit I contracted pneumonia which only made matters worse.”

After his second visit to hospital in the space of a couple days, Mr Durrant then found himself constantly moved from ward to ward during his treatment, which triggered flashbacks because of his PTSD.

Amanda Durrant, Justin’s wife, said: “During Justin's last admission at GWH last year he was moved five times in the space of three days and did not have a food and fluid chart. The present admission is causing him to have flashbacks and become very anxious.

“I would have driven back over to the hospital but, having stayed with him all day and been awake for over 36 hours, I did not feel safe."

A spokesman for GWH said: “Our priority in the Emergency Department is to treat patients’ immediate clinical need, which is often a life-threatening or critical condition. If ongoing care is also needed, patients will be kept safe and comfortable in the department until a ward bed is available.

“We have a round-the-clock team of mental health nurses working in the Emergency Department to care for patients in need of mental health support at the time of their attendance. Although every effort is made to tailor our care to each patient’s individual needs, we strongly encourage people to inform their doctors and nurses of any existing conditions they may be unaware of.”