NHS In Trouble: Eight-Year-Old Disabled Boy Sleeps On The Hospital Floor For Seven Days, Parent Demand Answers From The Hospital Authorities

An eight-year-old severely disabled boy from Preston, Lancashire, had to sleep on the hospital floor for a week as the hospital failed to provide a suitable bed to the toddler. The boy, reportedly, has a mental age as that of a one year old child and is fed with the help of a tube.

Cody Neatis, who suffers from epilepsy, autism and Down's syndrome, was admitted to the Royal Preston Hospital on account of reported chest infection. With an expectation to be provided with a special needs cot to take care of the disabled baby, the parents of the boy rather had to see their baby sleeping on a floor mattress for all week long since the hospital did not have a special needs bed.

The 48-year-old mother of the baby, Lynne, accompanied the baby throughout the week by sleeping next to him, just to make sure that the baby is safe and doesn't accidentally pull out his oxygen supply, reported The Times UK.

"This situation has been an ongoing one for years with this hospital and I don't understand why they still don't have a suitable bed. We had to stay in for nine days in August 2013, I complained about it then and was told that the ward was getting a special needs bed. So I fully expected them to have it this time but there is still nothing,” told Lynne.

Lynne and her 45-year-old husband, Stephen, have a specialist bed at their home to take of the child. Their other son, 7-year-old Dexter, suffers from ADHD and autism. The couple spend their day providing full time care to their sons, with the specialist bed costing them more than £3,000.

According to The Mirror, Lynne revealed how the boy was assigned a nurse to take his care followed by two more health assistants only after a friend of Lynne tweeted the photo of the little kid sleeping on the hospital floor.

"Our priority is to always provide excellent care with compassion for our patients and we have had several discussions with Cody's family regarding his care. We are awaiting delivery of a specialist bed from America and we have discussed a number of alternatives with Cody's family, which have been declined," explained Karen Partington from the NHS Foundation Trust, reported The Mirror.

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