Woman, 31, died of sepsis after being left on hospital trolley for 10 hours

A woman was "abandoned in her most vulnerable moment" and died from after being left for 10 hours on a hospital trolley in a corridor in A&E, an inquest into her death was told.

Tamara Davis was left struggling to breathe and coughing up blood at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in December 2022. She had been diagnosed with a respiratory infection and placed in a resuscitation room and given oxygen. But she was moved into the corridor when another patient needed the room.

When Miss Davis' condition deteriorated further she was moved back to a resuscitation cubicle and transferred to intensive care. She died the following day. The coroner was told that at one stage there were 20 patients being treated in the hospital corridor.

Joanne Andrews, West Sussex coroner, said she was going to write to the Department of Health and England to voice her concerns over the use of corridors in the treatment of patients. Recording a conclusion of death by natural causes, she said: "In relation to the use of corridors this does to me create a substantial concern."

But added: "There is no evidence of the patient having been placed in a corridor caused or contributed to her death in these circumstances."

Speaking outside a pre-inquest hearing Tamara's mother, Sue, said: "It was absolute carnage in there, a right scene. It was like something out of a war zone. There were 30 people on trolleys waiting for proper treatment and more people on the floor and seats. It was a total mess."

Her devastated younger sister Miya, 25, who rushed to the hospital to be by her side, said staff just forgot about her sister. She said: "They were meant to be caring for her but they simply forgot about her and she was just left there curled up in a ball on the trolley in the corridor. We felt powerless. It was crazy. They gave her some antibiotics but then they missed giving her another dose even though they wrote it on her notes.

"That was later crossed out - but there is no explanation why and no initials next to the crossed out entry. It felt like there were times when my sister was treated as a burden. Not a single nurse, doctor or porter even glanced to check if Tamara was in distress."

Her heartbroken family said that Tamara was "failed" by the hospital and died after "disgusting" treatment at the Royal Sussex. They say her death could have been prevented had she received proper care in A&E and blasted the hospital's treatment of her.

Miya said: "I've never felt my heart break like I did when I was told my sister wouldn't recover. It's like she was an afterthought. She was just left, almost forgotten. The treatment of my sister was appalling. Nobody came to check on her. Nobody even stopped to ask if we had everything we needed or if she was comfortable."