A woman studying to be a nurse was waiting for hours in agonizing pain in the A&E (ER) before dying. Zoe Bell passed on Christmas Eve 2022 at the age of 28, after taking extra shifts at hospitals in Buckinghamshire, UK to help finance the last stage of her studies. A coroner's inquest has now led to new details about her death.
Bell, who was described as a “dedicated student,” had just finished her last 12-hour shift on December 18, 2022, before she began to suffer from a sore throat and struggled to get words out.
Highlights
- Zoe Bell, a student nurse, died on Christmas Eve 2022 after waiting 12 hours in the ER.
- She was initially seen for sore throat and later developed severe chest pain, coughing up blood.
- Despite severe symptoms, Bell was returned to the ER waiting area multiple times.
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,” The Sun reported on Tuesday (October 1).
However, Bell’s condition reportedly continued to deteriorate, and she was rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, one of the hospitals where she worked, on December 23, 2022.
A woman studying to be a nurse was waiting for hours in agonizing pain in the A&E (ER) before dying
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Ayres reportedly recalled how they had arrived shortly after 10 pm and said she began suffering severe chest pain about an hour and a half later.
Nurses checked Bell while she was at the hospital but said her oxygen levels were normal and tried to test for tonsillitis, The Sun reported.
"It was made to seem as though there was nothing to worry about," Ayres told Beaconsfield Coroner's Court on Tuesday.
An inquest from the coroner revealed how the A&E where Bell was waiting had been particularly busy due to a lot of flu, Covid, and also children coming in with Strep-B.
Group B strep is a type of bacteria called streptococcal bacteria. It's very common in both men and women and usually lives in the bottom (rectum) or vagina, the NHS explains.
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By 4:30 am, Bell and Ayres were still in the waiting area but she had developed "agonizing" chest, back, and shoulder pain, the mourning boyfriend reportedly said.
He further recounted: "Zoe coughed up a small amount of blood in a sick bowl. A nurse took all the same tests again.
“The nurse was convinced the blood was caused by Zoe's constant coughing. 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."
Zoe Bell passed on Christmas Eve 2022 at the age of 28, after taking extra shifts at hospitals in Buckinghamshire, UK
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At around 4 or 5 am, Ayres said he "kicked up a bit of a fuss" and successfully convinced a doctor to finally see Bell. However, the doctor in question only suspected that she had laryngitis.
Laryngitis is an inflammation of the larynx, or voice box, that can cause voice changes, throat pain, and other symptoms, including hoarseness, difficulty speaking, and a sore throat.
The condition is caused by viral infections like the cold or flu and usually gets better without treatment in about a week.
Bell and Ayres were eventually sent back to the emergency waiting area, where "Zoe was panicked about having coughed up blood" and started hyperventilating, The Sun reported.
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The grieving boyfriend recalled: "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."
At 10 am on December 24, about 12 hours after Bell first entered the hospital, the student nurse was finally taken into a part of A&E where patients are checked for the ward.
Bell subsequently became distressed, confused, and disorientated and an emergency alarm was pulled, The Sun reported.
A post-mortem examination concluded that she died of staphylococcal septicemia and bronchopneumonia
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Despite reports of Bell “perking up a bit,” and feeling a sense of relief over being treated, while expressing appreciation for the medical care, her health continued to deteriorate.
Moreover, her father, Nick Bell, arrived at the hospital just in time to see her being rushed into the intensive care unit at 12:30 pm, as per the coroner’s inquest.
Bell went on to tragically die the same evening from heart failure. A post-mortem examination concluded that she had succumbed to staphylococcal septicemia and bronchopneumonia, an acute lung injury due to influenza and a viral infection.
Staphylococcal septicemia, also known as sepsis, is a life-threatening condition that occurs when staph bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause blood poisoning.
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Ayres told the Buckinghamshire coroner, Crispin Butler, that his late girlfriend always understood the struggles and strains of the NHS and dreamed of improving it so everyone could get the care they needed, as per The Sun.
He said: "It seems that the very thing she worked so hard towards was the very thing that let her down. Her death is a loss to the NHS for her kindness and compassion and sheer determination."
The National Health Service (NHS), which is the UK's publicly funded healthcare system, has been experiencing some of the most severe pressures in its 75-year history.
According to a recent British Medical Association report, the health service has been facing years of inadequate planning and chronic under-resourcing.
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