By Charlie Moloney

A 28-year-old student nurse who thought she was run down after a long weekend of shifts died of sepsis after being left waiting in ER for almost 12 hours, an inquest has heard.

Zoe Bell had been taking on extra shifts at hospitals in Buckinghamshire to help finance the last stage of her studies, a coroner was told.

The dedicated student, who finished her last 12-hour shift on Sunday, December 18 2022, began to suffer with a sore throat and struggled to get words out.

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'.

But she continued to deteriorate and was rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, one of the hospitals where she worked, on December 23 2022.

Ayres told how they had arrived shortly after 10pm 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.

'It was made to seem as though there was nothing to worry about', Ayres told Beaconsfield Coroner's Court on Tuesday.

The inquest heard how ER had been particularly busy at the time due to a lot of flu, Covid and also children coming in with Strep-B.

By 4.30am Bell and Ayres were still in the waiting area but she developed 'agonising' chest, back and shoulder pain, he said.

'Zoe coughed up a small amount of blood in a sick bowl', Ayres said. 'A nurse took all the same tests again. The nurse was convinced the blood was caused by Zoe's constant coughing.'

He added: '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.'

Eventually - at around 4 or 5am - Ayres said he 'kicked up a bit of a fuss' and ensured a nurse saw that Bell was seen by a doctor. But the doctor suspected she had laryngitis, the inquest heard.

The couple were sent back to the waiting area, where 'Zoe was panicked about having coughed up blood' and started hyperventilating, Ayres said.

'By this point Zoe had enough', he said. 'She had got to a point where she wanted to go home. She was exhausted. She felt like there was no help coming.'

Finally, at 10am on Christmas Eve, Bell was taken into a part of the ER where patients are checked for the ward.

Bell became distressed, confused and disorientated and an emergency alarm was pulled. Ayres told how she momentarily 'perked up a bit'.

'There was a sense of relief she was finally being seen and treated', he said. 'She was so relieved to be finally getting help, she was so thankful and grateful.'

But she continued to deteriorate and her father, Nick Bell, arrived at hospital just in time to see her being rushed into ICU at 12.30pm, the inquest heard. She died that evening from heart failure.

A post-mortem examination concluded Bell, of High Wycombe, had died of staphylococcal septicaemia, bronchopneumonia, an acute lung injury due to influenza and a viral infection.

Ayres told the Buckinghamshire coroner, Crispin Butler, that Bell always understood the struggled and strains of the NHS and dreamed of improving it so everyone could get the care they needed.

'It seems that the very thing she worked so hard towards was the very thing that let her down', he added.

'Her death is a loss to the NHS for her kindness and compassion and sheer determination.'

Giving evidence to the coroner, a medical expert said a 10-hour delay in giving Bell antibiotics contributed to her death.

After her death, an investigation uncovered concerns about the reliability of an examination of Bell's chest which was undertaken at 11.40pm after she was taken to the ER.

An emergency care specialist had found that abnormal findings from Bell's chest should have prompted a chest x-ray being performed without delay.

Dr James Bromilow, an intensive care specialist who separately authored a report on Bell's death, said if antibiotics had been given to the deceased 10 hours earlier it could have saved her life, though added he could not be sure she would have survived.

'I think we are getting close to the tipping point of survivability at around 1 or 2am in the morning', Dr Bromilow said. 'I believe that the lack of appropriate antimicrobial therapy for 10 hours made a more than negligible contribution to death'.

The inquest also heard that a doctor had listened to Bell's chest at 7am and 7.30am on the day she died and recorded no abnormal chest signs. Dr Bromilow said it was 'unlikely' that Bell's chest would have sounded normal at that time.

It was only at 10am that a different doctor listened to Bell's chest and discovered abnormalities.

Proceedings were then adjourned, with the inquest to resume tomorrow.