NHS worker who died from Covid was not put at risk, manager tells inquest
The boss of Mark Woolcock, 59, who died in April 2020, said leaders were scrambling to put in place systems to protect staff at a ‘reactive’ time.
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Your support makes all the difference.The managers of an NHS employee who died from Covid-19 were scrambling to put policies in place to ensure the safety of staff at a “very reactive time” and did not believe workers were put at risk, an inquest has heard.
Mark Woolcock, 59, of Stratford, died on April 20 2020 at east London’s Newham University Hospital – where he had worked in patient transport services for more than 17 years, moving discharged patients to their homes or care homes.
The inquest at Barking Town Hall, which is examining the systems installed at the hospital to try and keep staff safe, previously heard that Mr Woolcock felt unsafe at work and was worried about being exposed to the virus without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Our crews were concerned but at no point did we think there was a risk to them
In a message revealed to the hearing on Monday, dating from March 2020, Mr Woolcock wrote to a colleague that the hospital was “all corona” and that he was “scared s***less”.
Abida Khan, who was one of two general managers working within the patient transport service at the time, told the inquest that she was trying to protect their teams.
“I was aware that staff were quite anxious,” she said.
“We were doing everything we could in the background to try and get systems and processes in place”.
They were “waiting desperately” for pan-London guidance for patient transport drivers, which was not issued until March 27, she said.
Ms Khan, who works for the Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said that at those early stages of the pandemic, non-emergency patient transport (NEPTS) workers such as Mr Woolcock were not required to carry anyone with Covid symptoms.
“According to our processes, I’m 100% clear that we weren’t knowingly asking them to move Covid patients,” she said.
Patients that were due to be transported to hospital were screened via a call the day before, when they were asked whether they had a cough or fever, she said.
Ahead of transporting people from hospital, NEPTS drivers were expected to confirm with nurses on the ward that they did not have symptoms.
Any Covid-suspected patients were instead transported by the London Ambulance Service or a third-party private provider, Ms Khan said, adding that NEPTS staff only started to drive them in April once they had been trained to do so.
Pressed by Adam Wagner, counsel to Mr Woolcock’s family, on why the policy that NEPTS staff did not transport coronavirus patients had not been put in writing, she acknowledged that “in hindsight” that would have been better.
Ms Khan said: “With any policy it’s not something you can just rush through.
“We were trying to keep everyone informed as quickly and as best we could.
“It was a very reactive time and a lot of communications were being done verbally.”
With regards to PPE, she said the drivers were equipped with gloves and aprons, but not with face masks, which was in line with national guidelines.
She said: “Our crews were concerned but at no point did we think there was a risk to them.”
Ms Khan, who is now communication and engagement lead within NEPTS, said she did not know how Mr Woolcock was infected.
She said: “It was a time where it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to say how someone contracted Covid”.
That sentiment was echoed by another witness, Deborah Whittle, a patient safety and quality adviser.
She said it was “very difficult to establish with absolute certainty” how Mr Woolcock caught the virus, but that it was “likely that the source of his Covid came through his work”.
The job required him to be physically close to patients, lifting them and accompanying them in the back of the vehicle.
Ms Whittle identified a patient Mr Woolcock transported who did not have any Covid symptoms, but tested positive several days later.
Mr Woolcock worked his last shift overnight on March 23, developing coronavirus symptoms within days that progressively worsened.
By April 3 he was struggling to breathe and was admitted to hospital.
His daughter, Tania Woolcock, told the inquest last week that her father was unhappy about collecting patients from hospital wards, where infected patients were not clearly segregated.
Ted Purcell, a national officer at the Community trade union, also argued drivers were being “put in danger” by being exposed to the virus on wards without enough PPE.
The hearing was adjourned to Tuesday at 10am.