A PATIENT who was rushed to Worcestershire Royal Hospital with severe chest pain discharged himself after 30 hours because he could not get access to the drugs he needed.

He said weekend staff, who seemed to be "all temps and agency nurses", told him they could not get the drugs as the hospital pharmacy was closed.

David Stephens, of Crown Street, Barbourne, who is waiting for a heart and lung transplant, has to use a nebuliser and take a number of prescribed drugs.

"My condition is extremely grim. It takes me about three hours to have a wash and shave because I have to keep resting, I get so short of breath," said the 57-year-old former construction site manager.

"On a Saturday two weeks ago I suffered severe, paralysing chest pains. I thought it was my last night."

He was given oxygen and taken to hospital by ambulance, giving the paramedics a list of his daily medication.

First he was taken to A&E, then to the Medical Assessment Unit and finally to a surgical ward, Beech 3.

"At first they thought I was having a heart attack, then they said it could be a collapsed lung and then pleurisy," he said. "It turned out to be a chest infection and I was given antibiotics, which I take at home anyway."

He asked for two drugs - Seretide at 6pm on Saturday, then at 10.15pm, when he also explained he would need another drug, Spiriva, the following morning.

"By 10am on Sunday I was getting rather agitated. I was very short of breath and having to rely a lot of the time on oxygen. I was told they couldn't get the drugs I needed because the pharmacy was closed, so I phoned my wife and discharged myself," he said.

Mr Stephens, who heard afterwards that a pharmacist could have been paged for the necessary medication to help him breathe, has since complained to Worcestershire Acute NHS Trust.

Janet Marie Clark, spokeswoman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "There are always pharmacy services available. The pharmacist on call is bleeped and will come into the hospital or give advice on the phone about drug availability."

"We have received a letter from Mr Stephens' family and we are looking into the concerns raised in it. We will respond directly to them."