Coronavirus: Lack of PPE caused death of care home nurse who contracted Covid-19, says son

‘She had no PPE but fearlessly she carried on. That’s what killed her.’

(Tom Maddick/SWNS)

The son of a care home nurse who died after testing positive for Covid-19 has said in an online tribute that a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) caused his mother’s death.

Ian O’Neal described his mother Suzanne Loverseed as a “lioness” who gave everything to protect her children and died “sacrificing herself for others”.

He said his family was forced to say goodbye to her via an iPad. “I cannot bring myself to recount the trauma of what we have been through, even though it will haunt me for the rest of my life,” Mr O’Neal wrote in a blog post.

“But I will say this: there are some people out there still urging that the virus is not that threatening, or that the government has overreacted, or that it doesn’t matter if a few oldies die. They are mistaken.”

He added: “My mother was 63: too young to die, but old enough to die from this; a statistic to others, but the very heart of our family.”

Ms Loverseed was one of 123 frontline NHS and care workers who have died during the UK’s coronavirus outbreak as of Friday, according to a PA tally.

“She worked in a care home, with patients dying of this virus. She had no PPE but fearlessly she carried on. That’s what killed her,” Mr O’Neal said.

The son added that Ms Loverseed had worked as a nurse for decades, including a period in the liver failure intensive care unit at King’s College Hospital, London.

Data from Public Health England last week showed more than 650 care homes had reported outbreaks of coronavirus, prompting a warning from the chief executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council that more support was needed for social care services.

“It’s clear that social care is just as much the front line of Covid-19 as the NHS,” Andrea Sutcliffe said.

“And that means, as we’ve always known at the NMC, the contribution of nurses and nursing associates working in social care is critical and the right support and recognition are absolutely vital.”