Wrexham sepsis death woman 'was not given antibiotics'

20 November 2019

The daughter of a woman who died of sepsis after waiting almost three hours in an ambulance has told an inquest her mother was not given antibiotics.

Samantha Brousas, 49, from Gresford, died on 23 February last year - two days after she was admitted to Wrexham Maelor Hospital in an ambulance.

Her daughter Sophie, a fourth year medical student at the time, said no hospital staff came out to see her.

She said paramedics had been unable to give her mother drugs.

Ms Brousas' partner of eight years, Simon Goacher, told the hearing in Ruthin that he and his partner had common colds over the New Year period.

But while his condition had cleared up, Ms Brousas' had not and despite being prescribed a medicated inhaler, she continued to feel unwell.

Condition deteriorated

Mr Goacher said from 19 February her condition deteriorated and she had to miss work at her new job, which she had started the week before.

On 20 February, a day before she was admitted to hospital, Ms Brousas had told her GP she thought she was going to die, assistant coroner Joanne Lees heard.

However the GP, Dr Greetha Bala of Strathmore Medical Practice thought she had viral gastroenteritis and told her she wasn't going to die.

Rebecca McNay, a nurse at the practice, told the court Ms Brousas' symptoms did not trigger an automated sepsis warning on the NHS computer system and was not in a "high risk category".

Sophie Brousas met her mother in the ambulance when she arrived at hospital and asked the paramedics if her mother had sepsis, and whether she should be in hospital on antibiotics drugs.

But she told the inquest the paramedics said they could not give her the drugs and that "no-one from the hospital came out to see her in the ambulance".

Sepsis, sometimes called septicaemia or blood poisoning, happens when the body's immune system goes into overdrive in response to an infection.

The hearing continues.