An NHS employee who died from Covid-19 ‘did not feel safe’ at work in the early days of the pandemic, his daughter has said, and was worried about being exposed to the virus.
Mark Woolcock, 59, from Stratford, died on April 20, 2020 at east London’s Newham University Hospital – where he had worked for over 17 years – with his lungs ‘full of’ Covid.
His daughter Tania Woolcock told his inquest at Barking Town Hall that Mr Woolcock, who had looked after discharged patients and and moved them to their homes or care homes in an ambulance, felt ‘frustration’ about the mixing of Covid and non-Covid patients at the hospital.
Mark Woolcock (pictured) , 59, died on April 20, 2020 at east London’s Newham University Hospital – where he had worked for over 17 years – with his lungs ‘full of’ Covid
She recalled a telephone conversation before his last shift, overnight on March 22 2020, where he said he had collected his own personal protective equipment (PPE).
She said in a statement: ‘Dad was not happy about going into the wards of the hospital with Covid-19 patients without any protection.
‘Dad told me that patient transport services did not provide PPE to him.’
Ms Woolcock, a social worker, added she sensed her father felt ‘a bit of anxiety’ when talking about his job and ‘did not feel safe at work’.
She also told the inquest that Mr Woolcock ‘did not seem comfortable’ with the ‘set-up about getting patients from wards’ but was more concerned about her staying safe at work.
Tania Woolcock told his inquest at Barking Town Hall (pictured in a stock photo) that Mr Woolcock, felt ‘frustration’ about the mixing of Covid and non-Covid patients at the hospital
His daughter called him the day after his shift, which she believes was the start of a scheduled week’s break and said she was ‘concerned’ about him having a blocked nose.
She said: ‘Given the setting that he worked in, it was always in the back of my mind that he could have exposure to Covid but initially I did agree with what his rationale was – which was that it was probably just a cold.’
But within days Mr Woolcock also began to suffer from a temperature, cold sweats, a loss of taste and smell and aggressive hiccups.
He had said he was ill and wouldn’t be going back to work by the weekend.
Ms Woolcock said she would have to ‘draw things out’ of her father as regular calls with him became challenging because he wasn’t speaking clearly, but he didn’t want to create a fuss.
The Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Newham University Hospital (pictured in a stock photo), investigated Mr Woolcock’s death, as did the Health and Safety Executive
In one video call she saw Mr Woolcock slumped in bed and sweating profusely.
The inquest was told he was struggling to breathe by April 3. Ms Woolcock called 999 and after getting through during a second attempt, her father was taken to hospital and admitted.
She was unable to see her father due to Covid restrictions but Ms Woolcock said communication with the hospital was ‘difficult’, with updates on his condition being ‘a bit rushed’.
She said she feared he may have contracted Covid-19 through being repeatedly exposed to patients who had the virus because she was told by a consultant his lungs were ‘full of’ Covid and he had a high viral load.
The Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, investigated Mr Woolcock’s death, as did the Health and Safety Executive.
A media release by law firm Bindmans LLP said: ‘As part of this role, he should not have come into contact with suspected or Covid-19 positive patients.
‘The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already examined the death and found multiple breaches of the law by Barts Health NHS Trust, including that there was no suitable and sufficient system for assessing the Covid-19 status of patients being discharged from hospital prior to them being allocated to a patient transport service, and that there was no specific risk assessment for the hazard posed by Covid-19 to staff working in the NEPTS.’
It added this case is important as it is ‘one of the few cases involving NHS workers that has reached an inquest hearing’.
Ms Woolcock said she remembered her father as a ‘nurturing and gentle soul’ who was warm, loving and liked a good joke.
The inquest, set to last until March 4, will look into the systems put in place at the hospital to try and keep Mr Woolcock and other employees safe.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10535955/Man-59-died-Covid-2020-hospital-worked-did-not-feel-safe-inquest-hears.html
