Going to a hospital whilst fearing for your life is stressful enough. Now imagine that you open your eyes after being unable to for hours... to find a model skeleton staring you in the face.
Well, unfortunately, that was the experience of 28-year-old Cleo Rawlings. As reported by the BBC, she feared she was suffering with meningitis - she was brought to hospital with a severe headache and light sensitivity.
The Salisbury, England native got to the hospital to find it full to the brim with patients. Rawlings had to have her face covered by a blanket for most of her stay, as "she couldn't bare the lights".
She had needed a drip to treat her symptoms while the doctors ran some tests. When she opened her eyes, she found a model skeleton was being used to hold her drip up.
Her mother, Alexandra Leat, explained that other patients were having similar, if less inappropriate, items being used. "I was a bit shocked because I wondered what was going on," she explained. "Then I looked around me to see that other people all had their drips hanging off picture frames."
"One of the nurses said, 'I'm going to have to improvise because we just don't have any more stock. So now I'm going to improvise,' and she was looking all around the corridors to see what she could use."
She clarified that the incident wasn't the fault of the staff - saying, "all the staff there were doing a great job and doing everything they can to look after people".
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The Hospital Issued a Statement About the Hospital Procedure
The hospital issued a statement branding what happened as "unacceptable and insensitive."
A spokesperson for the Salisbury District Hospital said, "This fell below the standards we expect, did not comply with our policies and procedures, and is unacceptable and insensitive. We have addressed this directly with the staff member involved and reinforced the relevant policy requirements."
They added, "The emergency department continues to experience exceptionally high demand. Our staff are working incredibly hard under sustained pressure to provide safe, compassionate and effective care to patients."
