Boris Johnson criticised for reaction to boy on hospital floor

Boris Johnson has apologised to the family of a four-year-old boy who was forced to sleep on the floor of a British hospital.

Jack Williment-Barr lies on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary.

Boris Johnson has apologised to the family of a four-year-old boy who was forced to sleep on the floor of a British hospital.

With voters heading the British general election on Thursday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock was attempting to control the damage on Tuesday (AEDT) after a picture emerged of Jack Williment-Barr, who was thought to have pneumonia, lying on the floor with an oxygen mask at his side because all beds in the emergency ward were full.

Mr Hancock was dispatched to Leeds General Infirmary to say he was “horrified” and that as a father he knew what it felt like and wanted “to make it better”. He also pointed out that the hospital was getting funding to rebuild its children’s unit. He was confronted by protesters shouting “shame on you”, although the Tories were forced to backtrack on claims that an aide had been punched after video of an altercation showed an accidental collision.

British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Prime Minister “just doesn’t care” after Mr Johnson initially refused to look at a photograph of the boy on a journalist’s phone before pocketing the device. The Prime Minister then insisted that “on the whole patients have a much better ­experience” than Jack.

National Health Service leaders have said that hospitals are going into winter in “the worst state they’ve ever been” and sources who have seen confidential daily performance figures said they were “really, really not good”.

Labour has seized on the issue as it tries to overcome a big Conservative poll lead by focusing on health in the final days of campaigning. Sarah Williment shared the photograph of her son in a treatment room after he was taken to hospital by ambulance because his GP feared he had pneumonia. She told The Yorkshire Post newspaper that although staff were “as helpful as they could be” there were not enough beds because “the NHS is in crisis”.

Although her son was at first given a bed in the children’s accident and emergency ward he was forced to give it up for a sicker ­patient, according to his mother.

“We were taken out of that room and placed in another room which had no bed to lie in. My son was forced to sleep on the floor,” Ms Williment said.

Mr Johnson at first avoided commenting on the case, saying only that he had “every possible sympathy for everybody who has a bad experience in the NHS” and that he “hadn’t had a chance to look at it”. Asked by the ITV ­reporter why he had refused to look at the image, he retrieved the phone and said: “It’s a terrible, terrible photo and I apologise ­obviously to the family and all those who have terrible experiences in the NHS, but what we are doing is supporting the NHS and on the whole.

“I think patients have a much, much better experience than this poor kid has had.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said of the Prime Minister: “This man is heartless. (He) cares for nobody and nothing ­except himself.”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Refusing to even look at an image of a child suffering because of Conservative cuts to the NHS is a new low for Boris Johnson.”

Labour has also found that hospitals are suffering “catastrophic” safety risks, including a roof in danger of collapsing, operating theatres too polluted to be used, power cuts and shortages of ­machines to monitor babies’ heart rates. Analysis of board papers from 120 hospitals found problems with asbestos and fire hazards.

Yvette Oade, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, said: “Our hospitals are extremely busy and we are very sorry that Jack’s family had a long wait … We are extremely sorry that there were only chairs available in the treatment room.”

The Times