A YOUNG woman was put in a “cupboard” while at hospital with a serious infection.

John Mackay said his daughter Lucy was left in a tearful state by the ordeal at Crosshouse hospital.

Mr Mackay told the Herald: “The nurses called it a treatment room but it was more like a glorified cupboard with medical supplies covered with what looked like bed sheets.

“When I spoke to the bed manager she said that this was not ideal and she wasn’t happy with situation herself though she said they did not have choice.

“They said because Lucy was fitter than the rest she could go in there.”

Lucy, 24, was admitted with cellulitis, slipped disks and a urine infection on Saturday, November 9.

She spent three days in the clinical assessment unit in Kilmarnock before being moved to a ward for another three days, and then put into the room.

Mr Mackay, who lives with his daughter in Kilbirnie, said: “It looks like it’s about to be decorated.

“Nurses were going in and out of the room getting supplies, and when she tried to close the door she was told it needed to be kept open for the staff coming in and out.”

He said that with the medication Lucy was one a fall could come at any time and if she had accidentally grabbed a sheet anything could have come tumbling down.

He also said Lucy missed her breakfast because the secluded room is not recognised.

When he confronted staff they eventually offered to move Lucy to the weekday ward at the back of the premises.

He said: “Lucy didn’t want confrontation and argument. So when she was shown the room she didn’t say anything, she wanted to keep them happy.

“My daughter said, she could hear the nurses saying ‘what’s happening to the lassie in the cupboard’.”

Mr Mackay understands the strains on the health service but believes this issue specific to Crosshouse is routine and nothing would have been done if he hadn’t spoken up.

He said Lucy was discharged on Monday, November 18, because of a shortage of beds but she is still unwell and is waiting for tests.

Joanne Edwards, director of Acute Services at University Hospital Crosshouse, said: “NHS Ayrshire and Arran is committed to providing safe and effective health care and treatment for our population in as timely a way as possible.

We would like to apologise to this patient that the area in which they were cared for was not as comfortable as we would wish.

“There are times when we experience a high demand for our service and over the last week we have had an increased demand for inpatient beds.

“We have put contingency measures in place to cope with the surge in demand and this has included, for a small number of patients, the use of other clinical areas within the hospital.

“We are reviewing these contingency measures, as we recognise that these areas have not been a suitable environment for patients.”