HOSPITAL worker Barbara Chandler was furious when she was shown the door at Swindon's Great Western Hospital by two security guards backed up by two police officers.

Mrs Chandler of Chiminage Close, Marlborough, was escorted out of the Swindon hospital last week after trying to persuade staff to admit her 70-year- old aunt who had been waiting months for shoulder surgery, and had two previous operation dates cancelled.

She admits remonstrating with nurses but said she was careful to avoid being offensive or being seen as threatening.

But a spokesman for the hospital said: "The decision to eject this woman from the ward was taken after several hours and was in line with our zero tolerance policy. A decision to eject anyone is extremely rare and only taken in extreme circumstances."

The aunt who has asked not to be named, had received a letter asking her to be at the Woodpecker orthopaedic ward by 4pm. She telephoned the hospital at 6.45am on Monday but was told to be there at 11am instead of 4pm.

Mrs Chandler took her to the hospital.

She said: "We went straight to Woodpecker ward and staff showed her where her bed was. We sat by the bed for an hour and we saw a lot of people going by but no-one came in.

"I went out and spoke to three nurses and asked if they could get somebody to help."

A staff nurse then arrived and told the 70-year-old she should not have arrived until 4pm.

At that point, said Mrs Chandler, the staff nurse told her everyone in the ward was upset because they had just heard that the husband of one of the staff had died in the RAF Hercules which had crashed in Iraq. She said she commiserated with the nurse.

A sister also told the pensioner that she should not have arrived until 4pm and, at that point, it was mentioned that tests carried out the week before showed she had the superbug MRSA and could not be admitted to Woodpecker as it was a protected ward.

Mrs Chandler said: "I told the sister that we had already been sitting in the ward for over an hour. I suggested that they could put my aunt in a side ward and the sister said she would go and see the bed manager."

Mrs Chandler said they went to the hospital restaurant for lunch and when they returned to the ward they were shown to a waiting area just inside the ward.

Mrs Chandler said: "I could not get over to them that my aunt had been allocated a bed and we had sat by it for an hour and if we had not gone for lunch we would still be there."

Then a matron arrived who was very nice and made a cup of tea. She said she would try to get a bed on another ward.

At this point a receptionist told Mrs Chandler she should be patient as staff were upset by news of the Hercules tragedy. Mrs Chandler said she then asked if they could go somewhere more private and they were shown into a sister's office.

She said she spoke to the hospital's Patient Liaison Service (PALS) about the delay in getting her aunt admitted but was told there was nothing that could be done. "I was determined we would not go anywhere until my auntie got her operation because she'd had it put off twice before.

"I jokingly said they could call the security guards if they wanted because we were not going anywhere. Then two guards appeared together with two policemen. By this time my poor old auntie was saying 'Let's go home."'

Mrs Chandler said: "We had to do as they asked and we left."

A spokesman for the hospital said they were not able to comment fully because of patient confidentiality. He said: "A decision to eject anyone from the premises is extremely rare and only taken in extreme circumstances."

The elderly woman was admitted for her operation the following day.