Coronavirus UK: Daughters of woman who died blast government

A woman who passed away in a care home with a lack of PPE ‘shouldn’t have died’ after contracting coronavirus, said her daughters. 

Susan Marsten, 68, was living in a specialist care home in Manchester after being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, and contracted Covid-19 when a patient who tested positive for the virus returned from hospital. 

Her daughters Ruth and Sarah appeared on Good Morning Britain today were they said their mother was not ‘frail or unwell’, and claim her death could have been prevented if the care home had different policies in place. 

Susan died while staying in a ‘shared unit with a lack of PPE’. 

They think the care home was ‘at the bottom of the pile’ during the crisis, and say the home was having to phone up Public Health England to try to get information on how to best handle the crisis. 

Susan (pictured with her daughter’s as children)  was living in a specialist care home in Manchester after being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, and contracted Covid-19 when a patient who tested positive for the virus returned from hospital 

‘It’s utterly heart-breaking, said Ruth. ‘It shouldn’t have happened to her, they should hang their heads in shame.’ 

She went on: ‘I think the hard thing is when you lose somebody you love, if you feel there is nothing that could have been done to prevent their death, you’re able to grieve. But for us, we know that mum wasn’t close to death. 

‘She wasn’t frail or unwell and she shouldn’t have died. There are things the government could have done to prevent Covid [going into the home]. 

‘I know the home and the staff in the home felt they were the bottom of the pile, they were having to ring Public Health England to get information about what they were doing, and that’s the hardest thing, feeling angry.’ 

Her daughter’s told their mother was not ‘frail or unwell’ and claim her death could have been prevented should the care home have had different policies in place

Susan died two weeks after contracting coronavirus , and Ruth told that there was ‘no thought’ about sending patients who may have been carrying the virus into care homes

Susan died two weeks after contracting coronavirus, and Ruth said that there was ‘no thought’ about sending patients who may have been carrying the virus into care homes. 

She told: ‘You’re sending a deadly virus into a place where vulnerable people live together and it’s the perfect storm. 

‘Words fail me, the lady who lived alongside mum that was diagnosed with Covid-19 was sent back home. 

‘Whoever does the modelling and comes up with the great plans, that we can build a hospital in nine days, hasn’t thought about care homes.’

She added: ‘From a testing point of view as well, because the people who worked in the care home none of them were being tested. 

Sarah went on to insist she was ‘so angry’ and ‘let down’ by the government, claiming there was ‘never any shielding in place’ for care home residents

‘Many were going off sick and people from agencies were coming in and bringing in the virus’. 

Sarah went on to insist she was ‘so angry’ and ‘let down’ by the government, claiming there was ‘never any shielding in place’ for care home residents. 

When asked how she felt about claims that care homes had been placed into lockdown earlier than the rest of the country, Sarah said: ‘I’m just so angry. 

‘We feel completely let down by the system. There was never any shielding in place, they were the bottom of the pile from the beginning of this crisis.

‘We feel so desperately sad, but so angry. She should not have died. If the right shielding was in place, she would not have died of this virus.’