Grandmother, 81, dies after being driven by ambulance 600 miles looking for mental health unit bed

Grandmother, 81, dies on a motorway hard shoulder after being driven by ambulance 600 miles around Britain looking for a bed in a mental health unit

  • Grandmother was taken from Norwich home to Somerset for a mental health bed
  • Peggy Copeman, 81, was moved almost 300 miles as no closer bed was found  
  • She died as an ambulance was making the return journey from Somerset 
  • Her family says her death illustrated the chronic shortage of mental health beds

A grandmother died on a motorway hard shoulder after being ferried by ambulance almost 600 miles around the country in search of a bed in a mental health unit.

Peggy Copeman, 81, suffered a suspected heart attack on the M11 near Cambridge shortly before Christmas.

Her death came four days after she was moved almost 300 miles from her home in Norfolk to a hospital in Taunton, Somerset, because no place could be found for her in a nearer specialist facility when her long-standing mental health problem flared up.

Peggy Copeman, 81, suffered a suspected heart attack on the M11 near Cambridge shortly before Christmas. Her death came four days after she was moved almost 300 miles from her home in Norfolk to a hospital in Taunton, Somerset

On December 16, a bed finally became available at the Julian Hospital in Norwich.

She died as an ambulance was making the return journey from Somerset. 

Last night her family said the grandmother-of-two’s undignified death illustrated the chronic shortage of mental health beds.

Peggy Copeman and her daughter Maxine are pictured above in the early 1960s. Besides Mrs Fulcher, Mrs Copeman also leaves two granddaughters and her husband, Neville, 85

Peggy Copeman and her daughter Maxine are pictured above in the early 1960s. Besides Mrs Fulcher, Mrs Copeman also leaves two granddaughters and her husband, Neville, 85

‘The way she was treated was just awful,’ said Mrs Copeman’s daughter, Maxine Fulcher, 56. 

‘I put my trust in people to look after her – to take her somewhere to get better – but Taunton was too far for her to go. It shows we have no respect for elderly people any more. As a society, we don’t care.’

Mrs Fulcher’s husband, Nick Fulcher, 54, said Mrs Copeman had picked up a urinary tract infection in Taunton and was unfit to make the long journey back. 

She had suffered periodically from schizophrenia for decades and more recently had begun to experience vascular dementia. 

‘If she had not been sent down to Taunton, I can categorically state she would still be with us,’ he said. 

‘When it comes to mental health, elderly people are forgotten. Doctors and nurses just blame their problems on dementia.’

A spokesman for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘We are very sorry about Mrs Copeman’s death. We will be working to investigate the circumstances and we will keep the family informed.’

The Trust said it had reduced the number of patients being treated outside the two counties from 71 in the spring to ten just before Christmas and was seeking to increase the number of mental health beds.

Besides Mrs Fulcher, Mrs Copeman also leaves a grandson, a granddaughter and her husband, Neville, 85.

On December 16, a bed finally became available at the Julian Hospital in Norwich (above). She died as an ambulance was making the return journey from Somerset. Last night her family said the grandmother-of-two’s undignified death illustrated the chronic shortage of mental health beds

On December 16, a bed finally became available at the Julian Hospital in Norwich (above). She died as an ambulance was making the return journey from Somerset. Last night her family said the grandmother-of-two’s undignified death illustrated the chronic shortage of mental health beds

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