Hospital staff thought a 24-year-old woman was ‘overreacting’ and gave her an oxygen mask that was ‘not connected to anything’ before her death, an inquest heard.
University of Manchester graduate Clarissa Street spent over an hour in a corridor while suffering from a pulmonary embolism after arriving at Royal Oldham Hospital in an ambulance late on August 13, 2024.
She sadly passed away the next day, as the inquest heard how a paramedic had suggested that they believed Ms Street was ‘overreacting and having a panic attack’ when she was passed over to triage staff.
The inquest, which started on Wednesday and is expected to last for three days, heard how the ‘talented’ and ‘outgoing’ young woman was treated by medical staff.
Described by her family as a ‘very well-liked, creative and outgoing woman’ who ‘enjoyed being around people and going to concerts’, Ms Street had previously experienced a provoked pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis in 2017.
After the incident, Ms Street took blood thinners at various points between 2017 and 2024, but when she arrived at Royal Oldham Hospital on the night of August 13, Ms Street was given an oxygen mask that was not connected to anything to ‘try and regulate her breathing’, and subsequently spent about an hour in a corridor before being moved to higher care.
The inquest heard evidence that a paramedic had suggested that they thought Ms Street was ‘overreacting and having a panic attack’ when she was passed over to triage staff.
Her condition deteriorated, and she died hours later due to pulmonary embolism with a background of fatty liver disease, the inquest was told.
Ms Street, from Castleton, in Rochdale, had been feeling off for the previous two days before her boyfriend called an ambulance on August 13 when she started passing out.
In the days preceding her hospital admission, the graduate—who had studied sociology and received the Dean’s Award for her dissertation—had trouble sleeping and was having trouble keeping food and water down.
When she arrived at the hospital, Ms Street was given a disconnected oxygen mask and left in a corridor.
Staff Nurse Michelle Neale, the triage nurse who was on shift on the night of her death, asked for Ms Street to have an ECG, blood tests and venous blood gas tests.
Ms Neale said the ambulance had told her Ms Street was hyperventilating, but they had regulated her breathing by talking to her.
The nurse said she ‘didn’t know’ why she gave her a disconnected mask and accepted that she shouldn’t have done it – but said it ‘did regulate her breathing’ and that Clarissa was ‘speaking in full sentences’.
Clarissa was then transferred to a more senior nurse by Ms Neale, who informed her that she would need a cubicle. But after that, Clarissa—who had a fast heart rate and low blood oxygen levels—was put in a hallway for almost an hour.
She added that the senior nurse had told her that Clarissa was ‘young, so we’ll just keep an eye on her’ when she was put on fluids and left in the corridor.
Ms Neale said: ‘Normally I would challenge it, but Clarissa was talking to me. She could speak to me in full sentences.
‘I remember her coming in. She was able to talk to me, and she told me that she had been on holiday to the Canary Islands.
‘I went back to Clarissa on the corridor, and I asked her had [the oxygen mask] helped her, and she said yes.’
She added that a more senior nurse said they would give Clarissa some fluids and then reassess her with the view of sending her to an urgent treatment centre. However, Clarissa was eventually taken to higher care to be treated by a doctor before deteriorating and sadly passing away in the early hours of August 14.
The inquest heard how, based on national guidelines, there was no need for her to be referred to haematology in 2017 at the time of her pulmonary embolism, and no need for anticoagulant drugs to be used long-term due to her embolism being provoked.
However, it was acknowledged that, looking back, Clarissa may have benefited from a haematology referral and more testing, which might have identified an underlying contributory issue.
However, the inquest heard her embolism in 2024 was unprovoked and it ‘cannot be said that the two are linked’.
The inquest began on Wednesday, May 6, at Rochdale Coroner’s Court and is scheduled to last for three days, ending on Friday, May 8.
Now let’s clap for the NHS because this woman had her entire future in front of her, but allegedly it was taken away through total incompetence and blasé attitudes. As a patient with her history, she should have been given priority attention, and this is utterly shameful.
This is total neglect, and I know from personal experience because I suffer badly from stomach problems and bleeding, and I generally know that when I have to be taken to the hospital by ambulance because of the bleeding, I am going to spend quite a few days in the hospital, so I always have a bag packed. When the paramedics turned up, they laughed at me and asked if I was going on holiday, and the ridicule got even worse once I got to the hospital.
This woman died from an embolism, but there is a bit of a difference between that and a panic attack, and this was absolutely tragic, and all concerned should have been sacked, even prosecuted, but the best that these hospitals came up with is ‘Lessons need to be learned’, what is that? Until the next time.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 