https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-nurse-exhausted-covid-pandemic-24946870?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_campaign=coronvirus_briefing_newsletter2&utm_medium=emailNHS nurse exhausted by Covid pandemic overtime overdosed and died in hospital toilet
Philip Pengson was a theatre nurse at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, Surrey. He had been working flat out during the pandemic when his colleagues started to notice a change in him
By James Llewelyn & Chiara Fiorillo
15:11, 9 Sep 2021
An NHS nurse who was exhausted by working overtime during the coronavirus pandemic died from an overdose of anaesthetic in the toilets of a hospital, an inquest heard today. Philip Pengson was a theatre nurse at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, Surrey. He had been working flat out during the pandemic, with a staggering 259 hours of overtime, when his colleagues started to notice a change in him. Coroner Anna Loxton was told that when Philip went back to work after Christmas, he would repeatedly disappear for long periods and come back to the theatre looking dazed and with blood on his scrubs. The inquest heard that on January 20 this year, the 35-year-old was working in the emergency operating theatre at the height of Covid lockdown when his colleagues noticed he had disappeared. Colleague nurse Jessica Ubag told the inquest: "I noticed that he had disappeared again and I messaged him and called him but he did not answer the calls. About 30 or 40 minutes went by and he came back to the emergency theatre. I explained I was worried about him and questioned him about why he had been gone such a long time. He said to me 'what do you think, that I am taking drugs or something?' He told me felt burned out and wanted to be left alone. I could not do that as we have other people's lives in our hands."
The inquest in Woking, Surrey, had earlier heard that man, who was from the Philippines, had travelled to the UK to work at the hospital in 2017, leaving his wife and two young children behind. Ms Ubag and Mr Pengson had become close friends after they both moved to the UK from the Asian country and she revealed he was still in contact with his wife and children every day. His sister, Fatimah, who lives in the UK, told the hearing that he had admitted in 2017 that he had a problem with prescription drugs but promised that it was in the past. Senior nurse Kristy Juinio, who described herself as a friend of Mr Pengson, explained what happened at around 6pm on January 20 this year. She said: "Jessica told me that she could not find Philip and that she did not want to leave without locating him. We checked the male locker room and there was a locked toilet cubicle. We knocked on the door and decided to wait 10 minutes to see if anyone came out. However, a doctor came and told us we needed to open the door immediately. We forced open the door and found Philip collapsed."
Ms Ubag added: "We found Philip and shouted to others to call for help. The crash trolley was wheeled into the changing room. I could see inside the changing room and saw Philip on the floor and saw them trying to resuscitate him. I was then told he had passed away."
