Death of two nurses from COVID-19 ruled as Industrial Disease

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Two nurses, Gareth Robert 65 of Aberdare and Dominga David 63 of Penarth both contracted COVID-19 whilst employed by the University Hospital of Wales and Llandough Hospital in the early days of the pandemic.

This infection eventually resulted in their deaths, being registered as natural causes at the time. However, senior coroner Graeme Hughes concluded on Friday that both deaths were as as a result of contracting COVID-19 and were to be considered as industrial disease.

Death of two nurses

Mr. Roberts was a man described as ‘hard working’ and who would ‘never let anyone down’. He was known for his kind nature, calling everyone ‘carid’, which is ‘love’ in Welsh.

Mr. Roberts had retired from being a nurse earlier in 2015 but returned as a bank nurse shortly afterwards. It was when working 12 hour shifts in Cardiff leading up to 25 March 2020 when he fell ill, some two days before the UK nationwide lockdown. He later died on 11 April 2020.

Ms. David was originally from the Philippines and she was described by a colleague as a ‘fantastic person and brilliant nurse’.

Ms. David had been working shifts at the UHW’s Llandough Hospital in Penarth when she became unwell on the 7^th April 2020 and later died in hospital on the 26^th May 2020.

Following a week-long hearing, the Corner found that Mr. Roberts died from COVID-19 and that his type 2 diabetes had contributed to his death. The Coroner also found that Ms. David had pre-diabetes but was otherwise in good health and died from complications arising from COVID-19, including ischemic bowel.

In those findings however, the Corner found that the due to the age, sex and health of both nurses, it would not have triggered the requirement for a individual health assessment from the respective health boards.

It was also found that the two nurses were given the appropriate PPE in accordance with early guidance from the government, but that there was evidence that staff were not following the advice fully, in particular the wearing of masks.

Given the nature in which they likely contracted COVID-19 during their employment, the Coroner ruled that “Based upon my findings, my conclusion will be one of industrial disease.”

Unions and other bodies have been, for some time, campaigning for COVID-19 to be considered an industrial disease so that workers in the UK who have contracted it in their workplace and have suffered long-term health effects can receive greater financial support.

Should COVID-19 become considered as an industrial disease, it will enable those suffering from the effects of the condition to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. Presently only those suffering with a prescribed but lengthy list of diseases are able to claim compensation from the benefit scheme.

Given this finding by the Corner, it is clear that employers during the pandemic owed a particular duty of care to their employees in accordance with the government guidance published.

If you employer didn’t to follow those rules, failed to provide appropriate PPE and perform a COVID-19 risk assessment and you contracted the virus, you may be able to claim compensation as a result.

Sources:

Deaths of two Welsh nurses from Covid-19 ruled as industrial disease (nation.cymru)

Deaths of two nurses from Covid-19 ruled as industrial disease (yahoo.com)

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Death of two nurses from COVID-19 ruled as Industrial Disease

Two nurses, Gareth Robert 65 of Aberdare and Dominga David 63 of Penarth both contracted COVID-19 whilst employed by the University Hospital of Wales and Llandough Hospital in the early days of the pandemic.

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