The government has been urged to get a grip on long A&E waits with campaigners saying it is the rot eating away at the heart of the NHS.The plea by Age UK comes as it publishes a report detailing “heartbreaking” stories of how older people are suffering, spending hours in corridors and side-rooms.It highlights cases of people being left in their own excrement, having blood transfusions and even dying in these make-shift treatment areas.And it said older people were much more likely to experience long waits, with data showing one in three over 90s attending A&E in England last year faced a 12-hour wait or more.The government said the situation was unacceptable, but added it was taking action.The Age UK report said while 12-hour waits were once virtually unheard of, they had now become the norm in too many places.It highlighted the case of an 86-year-old who was left in a disused corridor for 36 hours.Another man, who had soiled himself, was left in his own excrement for 20 hours, while others suffered the indignity of having to use bedpans in corridors.Susan, 79, from south London, is one of those who has experienced a long wait, according to the Age UK report.She said it took 22 hours for a bed to be found for her after she arrived at hospital having had a heart attack.She spent a large part of her wait on a couch in a curtained-off area near A&E where there was no privacy. She believes she heard two people dying on couches nearby.Regarding one of the deaths, she said: “I was next to a …
