THE lack of bed spaces at GWH has meant that hundreds of patients have had to be cared for on hospital trolleys.

The issue was brought into sharp focus this week when the Evening Advertiser revealed that 62-year-old heart patient Herbert Edwards spent more than 144 hours being cared for on a trolley after being admitted with chest pains.

The divorced father-of-three was told that all the other 541 beds were taken up by patients.

His six-day stay is more than double the previous countrywide record of 77-and-a-half hours at the former Princess Margaret Hospital last year held by 40-year-old Tony Collins.

Mr Edwards was keen to point out that apart from staying on an uncomfortable trolley for his stay, his medical treatment was excellent.

In February, a total of 414 patients had to be cared for on hospital trolleys, one more than in January.