A mother is furious after she discovered her son was rushed to hospital and left to recover on the floor. 

Steven Arasti was taken to North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton in an ambulance after a recurring stomach complaint caused him to start violently vomiting.

His mother, Louisa Murphy, arrived at the Accident and Emergency department in the hospital in Sterling Way hours after his arrival to find her 29-year-old son delirious on the floor.

Ms Murphy, from Winchmore Hill, said: “It was appalling. We are not in a third world country. It's so frightening. He could have caught something.

“I said ‘what’s going on? Why is he on the floor?' And one of the nurses said we gave him a chair but he sat on the floor.

“He came on an ambulance in a stretcher, he was given gas and air – it’s obvious he can’t sit on a chair.”

The 44-year-old said her son had been given between three to four doses of morphine, anti-sickness shots and Codeine, and believes the strong concoction meant he should have been given a bed straight away.

When she confronted nurses about her son's position, where he said he had been for hours, Ms Murphy said staff were not helpful and blamed Mr Arasti for choosing to sit on the floor.

She said a nurse eventually pulled back a curtain and found a bed for her ill son when she started taking pictures, although it was not covered with a sterile sheet so she was worried it had not been cleaned sufficiently.

Ms Murphy, who is a therapist, added: “Why do people pay that much money in taxes? He is never going back there again – there is no way I am going anywhere near North Mid.

"I just think it’s appalling conditions and members of staff are totally rude.

“I would understand if we were abusive towards them but all I said was ‘what was he doing on the floor?’”

Although her skip driver son was released at 5am - approximately six hours after his arrival - Ms Murphy said he continued to vomit and believes he should have received further care at the hospital.

The mother-of-four is now considering making a formal complaint against North Mid, but in the mean time, she will be avoiding using the hospital again at all costs.

Mark Channell, lead nurse for A and E, apologised to Mr Arasti but defended the hospital’s quality of care.

He said: "I would like to apologise to the patient concerned for what they perceived to be care that was not to the standard they expected.

"While I will not talk about this specific incidence, in order to protect patient confidentiality, all patients coming to the department are offered a chair in a safe environment.

“Patients are placed in different areas of A and E in accordance with their clinical needs - the Urgent Care Centre for less serious conditions, the majors area for those with greater clinical need and finally the resuscitation area for those with life threatening injury - and the difference in environment reflects their differing clinical requirements.

“We aim to provide all patients with excellent care, as timely as possible, and naturally the most seriously ill are prioritised.”

He said the hospital is achieving national quality and safety standards for A and E, and said he would be happy to talk through the points raised with the patient directly to ensure every person has a “positive experience” of the service.