PATIENTS at a Glasgow hospital have had to spend the night on trolleys because there are no beds for them anywhere in the city, staff claimed today.

One patient in his 90s was 13 hours on a trolley before a bed could be found, they said.

Doctors also fear patients waiting for promised operations could soon suffer if their surgery has to be cancelled due to lack of room.

Ward staff at Stobhill Hospital say they are "at our wits' end" trying to cope because no extra beds have been provided there to cope with winter pressures.

One said: "We are run off our feet trying to keep patients comfortable and even just find somewhere to put them. This is no way to treat patients."

Staff said the hospital had just one ward, with 25 beds, to receive new patients, yet Stobhill had to cope with up to 60 sick people a day coming through its doors last week.

The staff said that, as a result, a high-dependency unit was full of patients who did not need extra care because there was no room in medical or surgical wards.

Some patients spent the night on trolleys from an operating theatre because there was not a single bed available.

Cathy Miller, of health union Unison, said: "The hospital has been crucified over the past few weeks.

"In previous years we have been in talks to make sure contingency wards were available to cope with an increase in patients. This year, there were no talks and there is no contingency ward at Stobhill."

Stobhill is due to lose its in-patient services when it is downgraded to an ambulatory care centre by 2009.

Ms Miller said the union had repeatedly questioned whether Glasgow had enough capacity for winter after a recent virus outbreak stretched the service to breaking point.

She added: "The past few days have shown we do not have enough beds in the city to cope.

"The staff at Stobhill are stressed out trying to find a bed, but the patients aren't getting beds. That is unacceptable in any modern health service."

Springburn MSP Paul Martin condemned the situation.

He said: "It is unacceptable to have patients sleeping on trolleys. The experience of previous years has given us a good idea of when peak periods are likely and no one should have been surprised by an increase in admissions at this time of year.

"I will be writing to the chief executive of the health board and the health minister to find out why contingency plans have not been put in place at Stobhill."

A spokeswoman for the health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said all the city's hospitals have been extremely busy treating patients with respiratory and other emergency problems.

She added: "Additional beds are opened up wherever they - and the extra staff - are available. This plan is flexible and is continually adapted to respond to the actual levels of demand.

"Stobhill has experienced a very significant increase in demand during the last week.

"This has meant some patients waiting longer than we would wish to be admitted to a bed. At all times, these patients have remained under appropriate medical supervision."