WITH conditions ‘like a nightmare’ and ‘worse than how animals are kept’ an elderly patient’s partner says he had no choice to discharge her from Princess Royal University Hospital the same day she was admitted.

Elsie Gurney had been taken to Kings College Hospital after collapsing at her friend’s house in Dulwich with severe pains linked to the nerve endings trapped in scar tissue, from where one of her toes was amputated a few years ago.

And her partner Michael Collins said everything about her treatment there was fine but he says the problems began when the 78-year-old woman was transferred to the PRUH, Farnborough.

Mr Collins, of Hildenborough Gardens, Bromley, said: “She would have stayed in Kings College Hospital because she had people in there she could talk to but when she was moved to the PRUH it was like they had dumped her in a mental place.

“Medical ward four was down in ground zero and I would not have put an animal down there because it’s horrible.

“As you walked down the corridor you could smell the urine coming from the ward and there were three people in the room who had all gone senile and impossible to make conversation with.

“One of them kept walking up and poking Elsie and she said if she stayed there for much longer she would end up like one of them.

“Elsie went in on the Friday afternoon and I took her home in the evening because it was like a nightmare.

“As soon as I saw the distressed state she was in I said to the nurses I wanted to take her home.”

News Shopper: Michael Collins says conditions at the PRUH were 'like a nightmare'

Mr Collins says he has not complained to the PRUH because his partner was only in there for a few hours.

But he has written a letter to the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and is also going to see his MP.

He says Mrs Gurney has been in severe pain for several years due to the nerve endings trapped in scar tissue where one of her toes was amputated.

This is the reason he says her legs collapsed and why she needed to be taken to hospital by ambulance.

The 68-year-old added: “I just want to get something done for her.

“She is putting up with the pain for me.

“She says all she lives for is me.”

A South London Healthcare NHS Trust spokeswoman said: "We are sorry to hear that Mrs Gurney was unhappy with the treatment she received whilst at the Princess Royal University Hospital.

"We would encourage all patients with concerns to contact the patient advice and liaison service office."