M11 death: Ambulance service ban extended after grandmother's death

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

An ambulance service whose staff failed to spot a grandmother's decline has had its ban extended until October.

Peggy Copeman, 81, died on the M11 as she was being returned to Norfolk from Somerset in 2019 by Premier Mental Health Transport Ltd (PMHT).

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it found "an unacceptable service which exposed people to a high risk of avoidable harm".

PMHT has been contacted for comment but has yet to respond.

Mrs Copeman, of New Buckenham, Norfolk, was taken to the specialist Cygnet Hospital in Taunton, Somerset for mental health treatment on 12 December 2019.

On the return journey four days later, Mrs Copeman died on the hard shoulder of the M11.

At an inquest into her death held in June, Norfolk's senior corner Jacqueline Lake found the company had neglected Mrs Copeman and did not give her "basic prompt medical attention" which contributed to her death.

She 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.

Premier Mental Health Transport Ltd , formally Premier Rescue Ambulance Services, had its operations suspended following an earlier CQC inspection

The CQC inspected Tauton-based PMHT Ltd, formerly Premier Rescue Ambulance Services, a non-emergency patient transport service primarily covering Devon and Somerset, in June.

The purpose of the inspection was to see if improvements had been made following its visit in April, which resulted in the service being suspended.

Its rating of "inadequate" remains in place.

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Cath Campbell, CQC's head of hospital inspection, said its latest inspection found "serious issues" that would "expose people to the risk of avoidable harm if we had not suspended its operation."

"Although some improvements have been made compared to our previous inspection," she said, "the service has a considerable amount of work to undertake before it is fit to care for people again, and we will not reinstate its registration until we are assured it is safe to do so."

It did find that vehicles and equipment were cleaner than during its previous inspection and all equipment was present, in date and stored correctly.

Peggy Copeman died on the M11 hard shoulder on the Essex/Cambridgeshire border