‘MY GIRL SHOULD STILL BE ALIVE’
AGRIEVING father claims his “fun-loving” daughter would still be alive today if it wasn’t for the serious failings in her care during her stay in hospital.
Demi Reed died at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport on April 10, 2020, at the age of just 22 after taking an overdose of prescription drugs.
Her heartbroken family said she became “utterly consumed” by the terrible consequences of a fatal crash on the M4 which had involved her boyfriend just days earlier.
Despite being admitted to the Royal Gwent on four separate occasions between April 5 and 8 due to her mental ill-health, serious errors were subsequently found in her treatment.
On her final visit to the hospital on April 8, where she admitted taking an overdose to NHS staff, an alleged computer error meant she was not immediately assessed by a doctor.
There were found to be major delays in blood tests being carried out on Demi which would have revealed the overdose immediately and led to her receiving an intravenous antidote to prevent liver damage.
Instead, she was given more doses of the prescription drug on three separate occasions by hospital staff before she died.
At her inquest on May 5, assistant coroner for Gwent Coroner Service Naomi Reed recorded a narrative verdict and said: “Had she been treated within eight hours with N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), which was likely if blood tests had been taken on admission, she would have survived the overdose.
“Demi’s condition deteriorated and despite the heroic efforts of the intensive care team, she died at the Royal Gwent Hospital on April 10, 2020 at 4.30am from the effects of the overdose which caused liver failure.”
Demi’s father, Steven Smart, said coronavirus restrictions meant that no family members were able to be by her bedside when she tragically passed away.
“She was fun-loving and had a lot of close friends. She was into surfing, cycling and was having driving lessons at the time,” he said.
“It has been a terrible strain on the family, but getting the coroner’s verdict has confirmed what we knew – that something had gone wrong in her treatment. She was such an active and strong-willed person that her dying just didn’t feel right at all. A hospital report we received months later was very transparent about what had happened.”
Steven said Demi was asked by her then boyfriend, Thomas Hughes, to go for a drive in his Mercedes Sprinter van in the early hours of April 5, 2020, when she suspected he was drunk.
After refusing to get into the van he drove off alone and ended up crashing head-on into a Nissan Micra on the M4 close to the Brynglas Tunnels, killing dad-of-three Kirk Butcher, 45.
Hughes, of St Dials Court, Oak Street, Cwmbran, was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop. You can read the full report here.
“Demi blamed herself [for the accident], she just couldn’t deal with what had happened,” added Steven.
“We thought she was in the best place possible in hospital, but she didn’t get the care she deserved. All week were in touch constantly with them, and we even tried calling the police to get her sectioned for her own safety.
“We’re just devastated. We know she’d be here now if they had done everything correctly. They should have realised straight away that she’d had an overdose – but it took them nearly all week. In hindsight I wish we’d gone down to the hospital ourselves, but they told us to stay away because of Covid.”
Steven said the family have been assured by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which is responsible for the Royal Gwent Hospital, that procedures have been put in place to stop this happening again.
“The only thing we can take out this is that Demi may save other people’s lives, but this doesn’t bring her back,” he added.
The cause of death of Demi, who worked full time at Hydro Aluminium in Bedwas, Caerphilly, was given as “multi-organ failure caused by [prescription drug] overdose”.
Phillip Gower, director of Novum Law in Cardiff who worked on Demi’s case with barrister Edwin Buckett from 9 Gough Chambers, said: “Tragically in my client’s case, Demi’s dangerously high levels of [prescription drug] in her body went completely undetected by Royal Gwent Hospital resulting in her not receiving the emergency treatment she needed to save her life.
“The coroner also found that Demi’s mental health was not adequately explored by mental health services who had been made aware of her case.
“This was despite the inescapable risk of harm which increased with each of her hospital admissions. This tragedy was entirely preventable.”
In response, a spokeswoman for Aneurin Bevan UHB said: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathy remain with the family and friends of Demi at this difficult time.
“The events surrounding Demi’s death have been fully investigated through the health board’s serious incident review process. Our investigation findings, actions and learning have been fully and openly shared with the family, its representative and the Gwent Coroner.
“The health board and its staff fully contributed to the recent inquest to help provide answers to the family and to assist the coroner.”