A student nurse who died of sepsis on Christmas Eve was left waiting in A&E for 12 hours because of a shortage of beds, an inquest has heard. In a hearing at Buckinghamshire coroner's court, 'insufficient bed stock' was identified among factors that contributed to the death of Zoe Bell, a 28-year-old who had been working a series of long shifts at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Aylesbury.
![[Ms Bell died on Christmas Eve, 2022, after waiting 12 hours in A&E. At an earlier session in the hearing, the coroner was told the delay in treatment contributed to her death]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/16/90324219-14210825-Ms_Bell_died_on_Christmas_Eve_2022_after_waiting_12_hours_in_A_E-a-2_1734624978091.jpg)
Andrew McLaren, chief medical officer at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, also said there was a lack of observation on Bell, who arrived at the hospital at 10.14pm on 23 December 2022 but did not receive an initial doctor's assessment until 7.30am the following morning.
![[Stoke Mandeville hospital no longer uses agency staff and has increased staffing numbers in A&E, according to the chief medical officer at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/16/90324889-14210825-The_28_year_old_was_rushed_to_Stoke_Mandeville_Hospital_where_sh-a-3_1734625035402.jpg)
'There were a number of interactions with Zoe which we accept were not fully documented,' McLaren told the hearing. 'It wasn't that nobody was coming to see her, but they were making clinical decisions at the time that she was OK.'. McLaren said the hospital's A&E department was under intense pressure, with the number of patients frequently exceeding the number of beds.
'It was recognised that we were a hospital with insufficient bed stock,' said McLaren. Bed numbers at Stoke Mandeville have since improved following the opening of a new hospital ward, the inquest heard. Zoe Bell, 28, had been taking on extra shifts at hospitals in Buckinghamshire to help finance the last stage of her studies, a coroner was told.