A&E staff were too busy to treat my daughter, woman tells inquest

The mother of a young woman who died after taking a overdose of diet pills had to help treat her daughter herself because accident and emergency staff were too busy, an inquest has heard.

Carole Shipsey, herself a nurse, said she took her daughter Bethany’s pulse and even changed the electrodes on a monitor.

Shipsey said her daughter told her she was “burning from the inside” but when she asked for ice or a fan, staff said none was available. Instead she filled rubber gloves with iced water to try to cool the young woman.

She told the inquest that to begin with she had confidence in her colleagues but in the end felt “invisible”. She added: “Nobody seemed to appreciate the seriousness of the situation.”

Shipsey described her 21-year-old daughter as a gifted photographer and animal welfare activist who was “full of life”.

But she said her mental health problems started when she faced bullying on social media and broke up with her boyfriend.

Describing events after her daughter was admitted to the Worcestershire Royal hospital, Shipsey said: “I went up to her and I kept calm – she was fidgeting around on the bed and she said to me: ‘I am burning from the inside.’ It was very busy in the unit.

“I stayed with Beth, her electrodes kept coming off her skin because she was very, very moist. I could see the nurse was busy so I stuck them back on – I even actually changed them to get a better signal. Beth’s breathing was faster than normal. Beth said: ‘I can’t see properly.’”

Shipsey said she called over a nurse, who concluded that the young woman was having a panic attack.

“I never saw anyone looking at Beth, they were all busy with other patients behind the curtains. No doctor spoke to me at all.”

Staff have said the day of her death in February last year was exceptionally busy.

Kirsty South, a senior sister at the hospital and the coordinator of the A&E department, told the inquest: “It was a very challenging shift. We were often unable to meet the quality access standards that day. It was one of the most challenging shifts we have worked. It was more than busy.”

The coroner, Geraint Williams, will give his conclusions next month.