A PATIENT was on a drip was left lying on chairs for five hours as she waited for a bed at a Southampton hospital.

Jasmin Keatley, 23, was having difficulty breathing and was rushed to Southampton General Hospital by her mum Michele.

Jasmin was admitted in mid-afternoon dehydrated and unable to swallow – and soon collapsed while waiting for a bed.

She was diagnosed with acute bout of tonsillitis and then given an intravenous feed in a waiting area.

Jasmin had to wait two hours for the drip to be inserted – then waiting a further three sleeping on chairs near a kitchen.

The caterer, of Brockenhurst in the New Forest, said the experience was “awful” and that she had been “majorly let down” by the hospital.

Mum Michele, 48, added she was “absolutely disgusted” with her daughter’s treatment.

But bosses at University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, which runs the General, said they were not aware of any issues with Jasmin’s care and that she was assessed appropriately and did not require a bed immediately.

It is the second such incident in just over a year after a two-year-old boy was forced to sleep on plastic chairs in March 2014 due to a lack of beds.

The criticism comes after the General faced criticism last year over the treatment of five-year-old brain tumour patient Ashya King, pictured below.

Daily Echo: Ashya King has responded well to proton therapy for his brain tumour, the Prague clinic treating him says (Hampshire Police/PA)

Ashya’s family disputed the best course of treatment following a successful operation and his parents Brett and Naghmeh took him out of the hospital against doctor’s wishes, prompting an international police search.

The family fled to Spain and his parents were eventually tracked down and arrested before they were released and Ashya’s special proton beam therapy was arranged in Prague, funded by the NHS.

As reported by the Daily Echo, doctors and nurses at the hospital said they faced an “outpour of hatred” after the incident last August and that his family’s actions put Ashya at “huge risk”.

Ashya’s family claim the treatment at the Prague centre has cured him of cancer.