Family win full inquest into NHS death of woman, 31, who was left in A&E corridor for 12 hours after being brought to hospital in a friend’s car
- Tamara Davis was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton
- She was having breathing difficulties in December last year after chest infection
- Her family have said they believe she was failed by the NHS due to a lack of care
A woman who died after spending 12 hours left on a trolley in a corridor in a hospital’s A&E department is to be the subject of a full inquest – after a coroner listened to her family’s pleas and said she suspected her death may have been ‘unnatural’.
Tamara Davis was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton with breathing difficulties on the evening of Saturday, 10th December, last year after suffering a severe chest infection and coughing up blood at home.
Tamara’s family have said they believe that she was failed by the NHS and that the lack of care contributed to her death.
Today at a short hearing Coroner Joanne Andrews indicated she would accede to the family’s demands and hold a full inquest early next year.
Tamara Davis (left) died in intensive care at the Royal Sussex and her sister Miya (right) has called her treatment ‘disgusting’
Ms Andrews, the area coroner for West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, said today: ‘On 11th December 2022, Tamara presented as unwell at The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
‘She sadly deteriorated and died on 13th December and I have reason to suspect her death may be unnatural.’
Tamara’s family have previously told how they dialled 999 but say they were unable to get an emergency ambulance so had to get a lift from a friend to the Royal Sussex.
Tamara, from Hollingdean, Brighton, was initially given oxygen in a cubicle at A&E before her bed was moved into a corridor and taken off monitoring equipment while she was in the toilet with diarrhoea.
Miya said Tamara’s death could have been prevented had she received proper care in A&E and blasted the hospital’s treatment of her. Pictured, Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton
Her devastated younger sister, Miya Davis, 24, said that Tamara was left in the corridor for 12 hours with very little checking by staff, before finally being admitted to intensive care where she was put on a ventilator.
But her condition continued to deteriorate, and she died, three days later, on December 13 due to sepsis and multiple organ failure.
At the time, her heart-broken family said that Tamara was ‘failed’ by the NHS and died after ‘disgusting’ treatment at the Royal Sussex.
Miya said Tamara’s death could have been prevented had she received proper care in A&E and blasted the hospital’s treatment of her.
She saidI’ve never felt my heart break like I did when I was told my sister wouldn’t recover.
‘Knowing that her death would have been prevented if she had received the care and attention she needed in A&E makes that heartbreak all the more painful.
READ MORE: Woman, 31, dies in hospital after ‘spending 12 hours in an A&E corridor’ as her heartbroken family slam hospital staff for ‘treating her like a burden’
‘It felt like there were times when my sister was treated as a burden. At one point whilst I was sitting with Tamara, the heart rate machine she was connected to briefly alerted that she was tachycardic.
‘Not a single nurse, doctor or porter even glanced into the cubicle to check if Tamara was in distress.
‘I had to keep taking her to and from the toilet as she had severe diarrhoea and even leaked a small bit through to the bed sheet. The nurse told me she could give me a sheet, I would have to change it and she would come and collect the dirty sheet after. So I changed the sheet and got Tamara back into bed.
‘On one of many trips to the toilet, I saw Tamara’s bed with all her belongings being wheeled into the corridor and I was informed that someone else needed to be observed with the machine in the cubicle.
‘Being in such a vulnerable state in the middle of a corridor where everyone can see you is horrible. She wasn’t being monitored, she was just curled up on a bed in a corridor. It’s horrible to see your sister like that, especially your big sister. You wouldn’t put your worst enemy through that kind of thing.’
Ms Davis believes her sister’s death was linked to being moved to the corridor for a lengthy spell.
‘The treatment of my sister wasn’t what it could have been. Nobody came to check on her. Nobody even stopped to ask if we had everything we needed, if she was comfortable. I feel like if she had been monitored throughout her stay in A&E things would be different. She might still be here, and I’d still have my sister.’
Today’s short hearing heard that Tamara’s family had decided not to attend the inquest opening in the knowledge it would be brief. The family will be informed of any developments and the details heard.
She scheduled the full inquest for a provisional date of March 27th 2024.
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