The hospital had no beds available

Ann Guy was admitted to the University Hospital Aintree in, Fazakerley, Merseyside, on Tuesday night, suffering from breathing difficulties.

She was left on a trolley with her family from 2100 GMT until 1230 GMT on Wednesday when she was eventually transferred to the medical assessment unit, where she waited a further one-and-a-half hours.

The hospital said it had been very busy for the past few weeks and the situation was exacerbated by the sickness of one of its doctors.

Mrs Guy's son-in-law George Jacques said he was "shocked" that it had taken so long for her to be seen.

They also said we were tenth in line and there were nine other people ahead of us who had been waiting since 1800 GMT yesterday George Jacques, Ann Guy's son-in-law

He said: "She was taken in with shortness of breath last night, the ambulance came and took her to the hospital and we were taken in and placed in a small cubicle.

"After about half an hour we were taken into another cubicle and a doctor said she did need to be admitted.

"We were then placed in another corridor from about 2100 GMT.

"We had the explanation that there were no beds available.

"They also said we were tenth in line and there were nine other people ahead of us who had been waiting since 1800 GMT yesterday.

'Clinical priority'

He added: "She's not very well at all, she's suffering with breathing problems and she has deteriorated from what she was like when she was admitted into the ward."

In a statement, University Hospitals Aintree NHS Trust said patients were usually "either discharged from their ward or transferred to a specialist ward within 24 hours".

It added there were also six other patients waiting to be assessed along with Mrs Guy.

The statement said: "Patients are not always seen... in chronological order but are assessed according to their clinical priority.