Family are demanding answers after a Coventry nurse died of asbestos-related cancer aged just 64

A grieving family are searching for answers after a Coventry NHS worker died of asbestos-related cancer aged just 64. Jane Preston died of the terminal illness after spending years working at Walsgrave Hospital.

Jane worked for the NHS as a ‘Records Clerk’ at Westhill Hospital in Dartford in the 1970s and 1980s. She then began working as a ‘nurse’ at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry, which has since been demolished, in the late 1990s to early the 2000s.

She regularly came into contact with pipes coated with damaged asbestos containing asbestos, according to Leigh Day Solicitors. In November 2022, she was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, and died just three months later in February 2023.

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Husband Andrew Preston is now filing a civil claim in accordance with her wishes, while working alongside Asbestos Action. Lawyers will investigate how Jane was exposed to the lethal substance that caused her cancer and untimely death at just 64.

During her time at Westhill Hospital in 1975 and between 1979 and 1981, Jane was regularly asked to go down to the basement where the archives were kept, according to Leigh Day Solicitors. It involved reaching to get files that were stored near a boiler with damaged pipes, covering the files in dust which Jane had to sweep up after retrieving the documents, it was claimed.

From 1999 to 2001, Jane worked at Walsgrave Hospital. Her time in the role saw her use underground service tunnels that deteriorated on pipes that ran the length of the tunnels, often being disturbed by maintenance workers, according to Leigh Day Solicitors.

Both have been demolished in the years since, with Westhill Hospital demolished in 2000 and Walsgrave Hospital in 2007. With the buildings gone, Andrew is appealing to former NHS colleagues to help paint a picture of her daily working conditions and find out how she came into contact with asbestos, according to Leigh Day Solicitors.

Mr Preston said: “We were devastated to lose Jane, aged just 64, and distressed to learn that her work in the NHS had brought her into contact with the asbestos which led to her so untimely death. I hope this statement will help highlight the national asbestos exposure scandal that is increasingly affecting NHS workers past and present.”

He added: “If anyone remembers Jane or if they too worked at Westhill or Walsgrave Hospitals at the same time she was there in the mid 70s and late 90s I would be very grateful if you could get in touch to share your memories.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care told CoventryLive: “Our deepest sympathies go out to Jane’s family and friends. We take the safety of NHS staff extremely seriously and expect NHS Trusts to have robust plans in place to comply with their legal obligation to manage asbestos.

“Asbestos is considered safe if it is not disturbed. When work is carried out that would disturb the asbestos, trusts must bring in experts to safely remove it.

“NHS England continues to work with NHS Trusts to ensure their estates are safe environments for patients and staff, supported by £4.2bn of capital funding last year and a further £4.2bn in This year.”

Anyone with information has been asked to contact Kevin Johnson of Leigh Day Solicitors on 0151 305 2760 or [email protected].

University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire has been contacted for comment by CoventryLive.

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