Woman died of sepsis after being ‘abandoned in hospital corridor’

A woman died of sepsis after being “abandoned” for ten hours on a hospital trolley in a busy A&E corridor, an inquest was told.

Tamara Davis, 31, was left to “fend for herself” as she coughed up blood in the corridor of the A&E department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in December 2022.

She had been taken to hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties and collapsing at home. Davis was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and initially placed in a resuscitation room and given oxygen. However, she was moved into the corridor when another patient needed the room and left on a trolley, even as her condition became progressively worse.

At one stage there were 20 patients being treated in the hospital corridor as there was “nowhere else to put patients”, the inquest at West Sussex coroner’s court was told on Monday.

When her condition deteriorated further she was moved back to a resuscitation cubicle and from there she was transferred to intensive care. She died the following day from sepsis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection or injury.

Joanne Andrews, the West Sussex coroner, said she would write to the Department of Health and NHS England to voice her concerns over the use of corridors to treat patients.

Recording a conclusion of death by natural causes, she said: “In relation to the use of corridors, this does to me create a substantial concern.”

However, she added: “There is no evidence of the patient having been placed in a corridor caused or contributed to her death in these circumstances.”

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Source: The Times, 15 October 2024

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