Hospital in apology over patient treated in stockroom

Michael Steel, 63, was treated in the room filled with medical supplies at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex.

Mr Steel said: “It beggars belief that something like this can happen in this day and age - people don’t believe it when I tell them.”

In a statement, the hospital said Mr Steel was in the room for 36 hours.

It added: “Whilst ordinarily used for storage, senior staff carried out a full comprehensive risk assessment of the room before the transfer of Mr Steel, who was a low-risk patient and who was being prepared for discharge.

“We fully accept that this arrangement was far from ideal and not one that the trust would consider unless in exceptional circumstances. It did, however, allow us to carry on treating emergency patients. We apologise unreservedly to Mr Steel and his family and would be happy to meet him to explain in more detail the reasons behind this decision.”

The hospital is run by Phil Morley, the controversial former boss of Hull and East Yorkshire NHS trust, where investigations have been carried out into bullying and credit card spending by some executives. The Yorkshire Post has revealed some board members were handed large pay rises. Early this week, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt agreed to investigate claims about the running of the trust after a meeting with Hull MPs. Mr Morley strongly denies any wrongdoing.