‘Exhausted’ student nurse, 28, died after waiting for 12 hours in A&E after weekend of long hospital shifts

A STUDENT nurse died of sepsis after being left waiting in A&E for almost 12 hours, just days after she finished a weekend of long shifts at NHS hospitals, an inquest heard.

Zoe Bell, 28, had been taking on extra shifts at hospitals in Buckinghamshire to help finance the last stage of her studies, a coroner was told.

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The dedicated student, who finished her last 12-hour shift on Sunday, December 18, 2022, began to suffer with a sore throat and struggled to get words out.

Her boyfriend, Phillip Ayres, told an inquest into her death that “it was not uncommon for her to be run down after a weekend of long shifts”.

But she continued to deteriorate and was rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, one of the hospitals where she worked, on December 23, 2022.

Mr Ayres told how they had arrived shortly after 10pm and said she began suffering severe chest pain about an hour and a half later.

Nurses checked Ms Bell while she was at the hospital but said her oxygen levels were normal and tried to test for tonsillitis.

“It was made to seem as though there was nothing to worry about,” Mr Ayres told Beaconsfield Coroner’s Court on Tuesday.

The inquest heard how A&E had been particularly busy at the time due to a lot of flu, Covid and also children coming in with Strep-B.

By 4.30am Ms Bell and Mr Ayres were still in the waiting area but she developed “agonising” chest, back and shoulder pain, he said.

“Zoe coughed up a small amount of blood in a sick bowl,” Mr Ayres said.

“A nurse took all the same tests again. The nurse was convinced the blood was caused by Zoe’s constant coughing.”

He added: “Because Zoe was a nurse and she understood the staff were overwhelmed, I felt I had to be polite.

“It was like being caught between a rock and a hard place. I did not want to upset Zoe.”

Eventually – at around 4 or 5am – Mr Ayres said he “kicked up a bit of a fuss” and ensured a nurse saw that Ms Bell was seen by a doctor.

But the doctor suspected she had laryngitis, the inquest heard.

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The couple were sent back to the waiting area, where “Zoe was panicked about having coughed up blood” and started hyperventilating, Mr Ayres said.

He said: “By this point Zoe had enough. She had got to a point where she wanted to go home.

“She was exhausted. She felt like there was no help coming.”

Finally, at 10am on Christmas Eve, Ms Bell was taken into a part of A&E where patients are checked for the ward.

Ms Bell became distressed, confused and disorientated and an emergency alarm was pulled.

Mr Bell told how she momentarily “perked up a bit”.

He said: “There was a sense of relief she was finally being seen and treated.

“She was so relieved to be finally getting help, she was so thankful and grateful.”

But she continued to deteriorate and her father, Nick Bell, arrived at hospital just in time to see her being rushed into ICU at 12.30pm, the inquest heard.

It seems that the very thing she worked so hard towards was the very thing that let her down.

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She died the same evening from heart failure.

A post-mortem examination concluded Ms Bell, of High Wycombe, had died of staphylococcal septicaemia, bronchopneumonia, an acute lung injury due to influenza and a viral infection.

Mr Ayres told the Buckinghamshire coroner, Crispin Butler, that Ms Bell always understood the struggled and strains of the NHS and dreamed of improving it so everyone could get the care they needed.

“It seems that the very thing she worked so hard towards was the very thing that let her down,” he added.

“Her death is a loss to the NHS for her kindness and compassion and sheer determination.”

The inquest continues.

The Sun has approached Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust for comment.