Peggy Copeman: Ambulance service neglected woman who died on M11

Peggy Copeman was being transported from Somerset to Norfolk when she died

A woman who died on a motorway hard shoulder was neglected by a private ambulance company, a coroner said.

Peggy Copeman, 81, died while being transferred from Somerset to Norfolk in a Ford Transit in December 2019.

The van driver told the inquest he thought at the time the journey should "not have gone ahead".

The coroner said Premier Rescue Ambulance Service failed to provide "prompt medical attention" which contributed to Mrs Copeman's death.

Mrs Copeman, of New Buckenham, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in the late 1960s, and was moved into a care home in 2014 after showing signs of dementia.

CCTV images from the Cygnet Hospital showed Peggy Copeman slumped with her chin on her chest as she was leaving for the 280-mile journey to Norfolk

It had been decided she should be transferred to the specialist Cygnet Hospital in Taunton on 12 December 2019 for further assessment.

Four days later, she was due to be transferred the 280 miles back to Norfolk after developing a water infection.

• The patient who died on a motorway hard shoulder

In her summing up, Norfolk's senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said a full physical assessment was not conducted by Cygnet staff before the journey back to Norfolk, and the doctor checked her through a glass window.

"Premier Rescue Ambulance Service [PRAS] neglected to give basic prompt medical attention and my finding is that did contribute to Mrs Copeman's death," she said.

"I am of the view that it's important that patients are checked over before they travel, especially if it's a long journey... it may go some way to reassure the family that their loved one is fit enough to travel."

Mrs Copeman's daughter Maxine Fulcher said the family had been shocked when they learned her "giving and affectionate" mother was being moved to the Somerset hospital

Ms Lake said that before her transfer Mrs Copeman was slouched over and not interacting.

"There were no concerns from either Cygnet or PRAS staff on her physical health," she said.

An independent medical expert said "evidence from PRAS staff was not credible from a medical point of view", which Ms Lake accepted.

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Mrs Copeman died on the M11 hard shoulder on the Essex/Cambridgeshire border.

The coroner said Mrs Copeman died from a cardiac arrest - which would not have been brought on by the journey - but she may have lived a little longer if a defibrillator had been used.

"A little more time would have given Mrs Copeman time with her family for them to say goodbye... and to die in an appropriate and dignified fashion."

While giving a narrative conclusion, she said she had concerns over older people being sent out of the county, something Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) last year said it would no longer allow.

After the inquest, a spokeswoman for NSFT, which provides mental health services, said: "We are deeply sorry for the distress caused to Peggy's family.

"We want every patient to receive care as close to home as possible and we have put changes in place since this sad case, including opening an additional ward for people aged 70 and over to help us provide more beds in our local area."

Last week, PRAS had its licence suspended by the Care Quality Commission health watchdog after mouldy seats and food were found in its buses.

PRAS has been contacted for a comment.

Cygnet Hospital said: "We conducted a full investigation and note the coroner expressed that she was satisfied Cygnet Hospital Taunton took this seriously and had taken all necessary steps to address the concerns raised."