‘Lack of PPE played a part in Covid death’

AWOMAN who died after contracting Covid-19 had severe mental health issues and could not be transported to hospital as the ambulance had insufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), an inquest has heard.

Annette Davies, who was 49, was confirmed dead at her home address in Hood Street, Glastonbury, on April 9, 2020 after collapsing while she was being escorted from her home to be transported to hospital.

An attempt to take her to hospital the previous day was abandoned as ambulance crews did not have sufficient PPE to make close contact and she could not be persuaded to get into an ambulance on her own.

Mrs Davies and her husband Greg had both reported symptoms of Covid-19, although his symptoms had been more severe.

Mrs Davies had a long history of mental health problems but her mental state had been stable for over a decade and was managed by various anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications.

However, the inquest heard that concerns over Covid and the lockdown had caused significant stress in Mrs Davies, which led to her mental state deteriorating.

Written statements from Mr

Davies confirmed that in April he reached the point where he was unable to control his wife’s condition and that she had stopped taking her medication and was not eating. She had begun to spend most of her time lying on her bed and not communicating much.

Mr Davies reached out to local services for help on April 6.

After a mental health assessment was carried out on Mrs Davies at their home on April 8, it was agreed that she should be transported to hospital for sectioning under the Mental Health Act. Mental health professionals carrying out the assessment said Mrs Davies was “not communicative” and that she spent most of the interview “laughing inappropriately”.

An EMA ambulance crew (Easy Management of Aggression) was called to the house the same day.

However, the ambulance crew had insufficient PPE to make close contact with Mrs Davies while she remained a Covid-19 risk and while her husband attempted to convince her to walk to the ambulance herself so she could be isolated in the back while they transported her, he was unsuccessful.

Another ambulance crew from

EMA attended the property in the late afternoon the following day, with full PPE, and in attempting to lead her from her upstairs bedroom to the ambulance, she collapsed outside her bedroom door and stopped breathing.

First-aid trained ambulance staff and an attending paramedic attempted to revive her while South Western Ambulance Service was called, but they were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at 5.12pm.

Mr Davies said the PPE problem had left his wife and himself “without help or protection” for 24 hours after it had been agreed that a hospital transfer was necessary.

He said in a written statement: “Although her death may have occurred anyway, there were failures by involved parties that may have contributed.”

He said that nobody had checked his wife’s heart rate or blood pressure despite knowing she likely had Covid-19 and that ambulance crews and the mental health team were held back by Covid fears which stopped her getting to hospital.

Senior Coroner for Somerset, Tony Williams, concluded the inquest and recorded a death by natural causes, namely Covid-19, and a supporting factor of pulmonary embolism disease.