Delay admitting drug mix-up 'contributed to death'

Derek Davies died at Wheatridge Court care home in Gloucester in September 2021

A jury has heard how a man who died after being given the wrong medication in a care home should have been treated earlier in intensive care.

Derek Davies, 75, died after wrongly being given morphine by Jane Barnard, 66, who worked as a care worker at Wheatridge Court in Abbeydale, Gloucester, on 8 September 2021.

Ms Barnard did not tell anyone that she had wrongly administered morphine to Mr Davies until two days later. She has admitted a charge of neglect but denies manslaughter.

Prof Barbara Philips, an expert in intensive care medicine, told the jury at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday that she believed the failure to disclose the information had contributed to Mr Davies' death.

However, she added that there was "no certainty" Mr Davies would have lived if Ms Barnard "admitted what had happened earlier".

Prof Phillips told the jury how there were clear signs of "opioid toxicity" when Mr Davies was admitted to hospital but that, in her opinion, junior members of medical staff did not have the knowledge to act on the signs.

Prof Philips told the jury that instead of being admitted for "ward-based care" Mr Davies would have had better treatment in intensive care to allow for closer monitoring and treatment.

Mr Davies' original cause of death was listed as a brainstem stroke but this was later changed to consequences of morphine toxicity.

Ms Barnard worked as a care assistant at Wheatridge Court, which has since closed, for 32 years.

She told the jury on Monday that she found work "draining and exhausting" during the pandemic, that morale had been low and that staff felt "very frightened".

Asked if it had affected her confidence she told the court: "It did, very much so.

"We were dealing with people that were fearful for themselves so we were trying to encourage them to do things but I'd lost the ability to comfort them because I'd lost my own confidence."

The trial continues.