Peggy Copeman: Fund in memory of woman who died on hard shoulder

Peggy Copeman was being transferred 280 miles (450km) between hospitals when she died

A scholarship fund has been created in memory of a grandmother who died on a motorway hard shoulder during a hospital transfer.

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

The Peggy Copeman Scholarship has been set up by the trust that treated her and this year will help patients with dementia in Norwich.

Her family said she would be "proud" people would benefit in her name.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT), which treated Mrs Copeman, said the £3,000 scholarship would be awarded yearly to fund training.

It said this year's scholarship will fund specialist dementia training for the older people's inpatient team at the Julian Hospital, as chosen by Mrs Copeman's son-in-law Nick Fulcher and NSFT's chief nurse Diane Hull.

"We want Peggy to be remembered for the lovely person she was - she was loving and caring, you couldn't wish for a kinder person," Mr Fulcher said.

"Peggy would be proud of the fact that people will benefit from training to improve patient care in her name."

Mrs Copeman's son-in-law Nick Fulcher, pictured with his wife Maxine, said his mother-in-law was "loving and caring"

Mrs Copeman, of New Buckenham, was moved into a care home in 2014 after showing signs of dementia.

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

Four days later, however, she was being transferred the 280 miles (450km) back to Norfolk when she died on the hard shoulder of the M11 on the Essex/Cambridgeshire border.

Mr Fulcher said it was hoped NSFT had learned from her death.

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The trust said the dementia training would help the team observe and assess the quality of care they provide from the patient's perspective.

Ms Hull said: "We're honoured that Peggy's family has allowed us to set up a scholarship in her name which will allow our staff to continually learn and improve the care we provide."

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