A “hard-working” hospital nurse who died with Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic knew he was at risk from the disease due to his diabetes, an inquest has heard. Gareth Morgan Roberts from Aberdare began feeling ill on March 24, the day after the first national lockdown was announced, and died 18 days later on April 11, 2020, aged 65, on the intensive care ward of Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Mr Roberts retired in 2015 after working for more than 40 years in the NHS but shortly after returned to University Hospital Wales (UHW) where he worked as a bank nurse. He was described by colleagues giving evidence at South Wales Central Coroners’ Court as “extremely hard-working” and someone “who never let anyone down”. He was fondly known for calling everyone “cariad”, which means love in Welsh.

The court heard that at the time during in the very early days of the pandemic Mr Roberts was mainly working on a non-Covid and non-aerosol-generating ward in Cardiff’s Heath Hospital and was therefore not provided with full personal protective equipment (PPE). He suffered from type two diabetes despite otherwise being in good health and one of the questions the inquest is due to explore is what was known at the time about the risk coronavirus posed to those with the condition.

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The inquest is being carried out by senior coroner Graeme Hughes and the five-day hearing will also encompass the inquest of Domingo David, a UHW nurse from Penarth, who died with Covid-19 on May 26, 2020. The court was told on Monday that just before he became unwell Mr Roberts and all staff members on his ward had been told they were being moved to a ward for suspected Covid-19 patients. As a bank nurse Mr Roberts had a choice of whether or not to move to the ward.

Colleague Jodie Davies told the inquest over video link that she recalled having a conversation with Mr Roberts while making a patient’s bed during which she asked him whether he would be transferring to the new ward. “His reply was: ‘No cariad, my age and diabetes are against me and I look after my grandson so I can’t risk it’,” she said.

“He was mainly thinking of his family, I think. He often spoke about his grandson and how much he loved him.” Becoming tearful Ms Davies said: “I remember it because it was the last conversation I ever had with him.”

She said there were patients on the ward who were displaying symptoms of coronavirus and that during the shift Mr Roberts began complaining of a pain in his lung area while she and another nurse spoke about having a headache. Another nurse, Rhian Aguilar, told the court that when she asked Mr Roberts if he would be transferring to the new ward he said: “No the cheeky b****rs turned around and said I’m too old and I’ve got diabetes.” She added: “From that conversation I had taken him to mean he’d had a conversation with management about it.”

Both nurses said they wore gloves, aprons, and surgical face masks to treat patients in line with the guidance at the time and were not given full PPE. Guidance to carry out individual risk assessments on NHS Wales staff members was not issued until May and implemented in June.

Sandra Coles, who managed bank staff at UHW at the time, agreed that had a risk assessment been carried out on Mr Roberts he would have been considered ‘high risk’ due to his age and diabetes. In statements read to the court Mr Roberts’ wife Linda said she noticed her husband had a cough on March 25 and told how his condition worsened until paramedics transported him to hospital on April 2 where he was later transferred to ICU and fell into a critical condition.

About the day Mr Roberts died she said: “The nurse rang and said: ‘Linda, can you get over here now?’ I went straight to the hospital. A porter took me straight up to intensive care and I was given full PPE to wear.

“The staff told me Gareth’s kidneys had stopped functioning. He looked horrendous. His heart stopped – everything stopped while I was there.”

Mr Hughes said the case was referred to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), but the agency decided not to investigate matters further. The inquest continues.

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