The star said there was ‘no dignity in it’ as he was taken to hospital.

David McGarry appeared on BBC Breakfast discussing his health (Image: BBC)

BBC Breakfast hosts Jon Kay and Sarah Campbell looked concerned as guest David McGarry gave a horrifying health update as he described his experience of A&E. The 77-year-old told them how he spent 30 hours waiting to be seen and “could barely move” after spending two days and nights sitting on a chair. He was speaking out as research from Age UK revealed more than 100,000 people over the age of 65 sat for between one and three days in A&E corridors and waiting rooms before being moved to a hospital bed.

“When the treatment started, I was in the main A&E reception area, just on hard chairs all night long, until the next morning, when the treatment started again. The only thing that we had access to was water,” he said. Asked by Kay what reasoning they had used for this, he explained: “There was just nothing available, no beds, no trolleys or anything.

“There were several other people who also were in the same situation. Fortunately for them, they were quite young, so it wasn’t so bad for them. But, I mean, I’d had three basically, then two nights and two days with no sleep whatsoever,” he said.

A concerned Campbell chimed in: “So you’re, you’re in pain… we heard they’re talking about this feeling of a loss of dignity… just sum up, sort of how you were feeling.”

“Well, I mean, you’re that concerned with… the fact that you’re in pain. I mean, I had to spend some time on the floor just to break the monotony of sitting on a chair or walking around and trying to walk around.

“So, yeah, there was no dignity at all in it. I mean, it was embarrassing,” he confirmed.

The guest issued a horrifying update (Image: BBC)

More than 100,000 over 65s waited between one and three days in A&E before a bed on a ward could be found in 2024/25, shocking analysis by Age UK revealed.

The charity said there has been an exponential increase in long waits over the last six years “that shames our society and the NHS”, with the figure rising from 1,346 in 2018/19. More than half of those affected last year were aged over 80.

Age UK obtained data via Freedom of Information requests sent to type 1 emergency departments in England. The analysis was limited to three days, as NHS England said any waits recorded above three days were likely to be the result of data errors.

However, the charity said it and other organisations had heard accounts of people waiting up to a week for a hospital bed to be found.