Cancer patient removed from Queen’s Hospital A&E by security guards

Maurice said he attended Queen's Hospital's emergency department after a BHRUT staff member told him he would be admitted overnight for treatment. Picture: Steve Poston (Image: Steve Poston)

Maurice Stockland, 70, from Collier Row, said he was escorted out of Queen’s Hospital by security, despite having previously been told he needed overnight care.

Maurice, who has stage-four breast and lung cancer, claimed: “Seven security people came into the cubicle. I couldn’t believe it. I never raised my voice. I never swore.

“One of them put me in a wheelchair and two of them walked me out to the main entrance. They were very nice, but they just left me outside in a pair of shorts and a shirt.”

His wife Theresa, 66, added: “He called me at 12.40am and said, ‘They’ve moved me outside’. He was sat there freezing.”

Maurice Stockland said he was filing a formal complaint about the way he was treated. Picture: Theresa Stockland. (Image: Archant)

The hospital trust said its records only showed two security guards having attended, but Maurice said he would “swear an affidavit” that seven people came to his cubicle. He said he would file formal complaint and demand CCTV footage.

Maurice said he had been told to attend the emergency department by a member of staff at the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust.

In early August, he had a stent placed while he awaited kidney stone surgery – but suffered weeks of pain and bleeding.

On Monday, September 7, Theresa said she spoke to the urology department.

“They said, ‘This isn’t right. Go to A&E and you need to be admitted. Take bed clothes with you’,” said Theresa.

But staff conducted tests, said Maurice’s bleeding was normal and asked him to go home. He said when he asked to speak to somebody more senior, security arrived to remove him.

Maurice said: “The way I was treated is disgusting - like a bit of dirt on someone’s shoe.”

The trust’s chief medical officer Magda Smith said: “We acknowledge and understand Mr Stockland’s distress. Our staff followed our usual guidance in calling security when he would not leave the department and after the two officers spoke with him, they accompanied him to the main entrance to be picked up by his wife.

“We apologise that Mr Stockland was led to believe that he would be admitted by attending our emergency department. We are taking this very seriously and will carry out an investigation into what happened.”