A SCIENTIST who entered a state of “sleep deprived delirium” was found dead in the river following a night shift at work, an inquest heard.
Adam Spoors, 39, had started a new role at work and was on his second 8pm to 8am shift in a row on March 30.
The hospital lab scientist was likely under immense stress about his new role, the Cornwall Coroner’s Court inquest was told today (November 19).
Coroner Guy Davies heard that Adam left his night shift early from the Royal Cornwall Hospital without telling anyone on March 30.
The father-of-two was then believed to have driven from the hospital around 6am, and walked through thick brambles towards a river in a state of sleep deprived delirium.
He drove down Penventinnie Lane behind the hospital, which meets with a fork in the River Kenwyn.
DC Francis Davis, the officer investigating circumstances around Adam’s death, told the court his state of delirium may explain why he left his car crashed and discarded clothes randomly through the brambles.
She believes he walked in a straight line through the brambles towards the river where his body was eventually found.
Adam’s body was found after his colleagues noticed he had left his shift early without telling anyone and not returned.
But there was no explanation as to why Adam left his bag in the cafeteria at work.
He was just known to be feeling under a lot of pressure at work.
Davis said: “It appears that he left his car, discarded his lanyard as he went down the lane.
“He walked in a straight line through the bramble bushes.
“His shoes were discarded one by one maybe as they got caught in the brambles which could have happened if he was in a state of delirium.”
No third party involvement has been identified in Adam’s death, nor any suspicious circumstances.
Adam left a recorded message for his line manager Adam Westhead, which he discovered the next day.
It was played in court, in which Adam can be heard saying: “I can’t do it. I said I can’t do it. I left the lab. It needs cover.”
The message then cuts out.
Adam’s wife, Amy, also reported him missing after he did not return home after 8am as she was expecting.
Police managed to track his car to Penventinnie Lane.
Amy told the hearing Adam had been under great stress at work, but went into the lab the morning of his death so he could “keep on top of things”.
She added that Adam was not easily stressed, and could normally deal with problems logically and rationally – therefore not being himself when he crashed his car and walked through the brambles.
How and why Adam ended up in the river cannot be explained, but he lost his shoes and other possessions on the way.
Amy told the court: “He left the hospital. Drove away. Crashed his car, phoned his line manager and headed out in a panic.”
“He must have been absolutely delirious, running in the darkness, sleep deprived, in a straight line, he was desperate to get home. I think he was entering flight or fight mode.”
A statement read out in court heard that Amy met Adam when they were at school, and he “thrived as a dad”.
Amy said her husband felt unable to refuse a second night shift at work after he was offered the more senior role.
However, the 24/7 shift pattern proposed by RCHT were objected against by a number of staff.
In the week prior to his death, Adam had worked a late shift, early shift, day shift, one day to rest, and then two back-to-back night shifts.
He was at work on his own over the nights, when there should be two on-duty staff at all times.
Amy told the hearing: “The night before he felt he couldn’t go to work but felt he couldn’t call in sick because it would have been his responsibility to find a replacement and find his own cover.
“He felt he had no choice to go into work because no-one would want to go into a night shift with such little notice.
“I think he was sleep deprived and with the haphazard shift system it led him to be disorientated.”
Hazel Sweeney, Adam’s colleague who was also on the night shift, told the inquest he was not “himself and seemed withdrawn and upset and didn’t engage in conversations” as usual.
She said he didn’t take a break, which was not normal, and he became irrational.
Hazel added that Adam was feeling pressure at work due to the shift changes and stressful conditions.
He had also applied for more senior roles over the years, but felt disappointed as he was overlooked for less qualified people chosen instead.
Fellow colleague Helen Hobba added that Adam had been held back in his career despite being a better candidate, so felt pressure when he did finally manage to secure the new role.
He feared he would be bumped back down or overlooked again.
Line manager Adam Westhead said Adam had been a dependable colleague who loved and took his job seriously.
The two had worked at RCHT for nine years, and he had been Adam’s supervisor for six of those years.
“He approached his job seriously and with great professionalism. He hardly ever took a sick day. He enjoyed his job and enjoyed training and helping his junior colleagues,” Mr Westhead said.
Adam was particularly stressed after he received an email from another department two nights before his death which raised concerns about a missing lab sample.
Mr Westhead told the inquest Adam had nothing to do with it, but was worried about some new decision making processes that were involved in his new role.
The line manager said he tried to reassure and support his colleague, even helping him with a work placement pressure online wellbeing designed for staff under stress.
Colleagues alerted Mr Westhead that Adam had left his shift unexpectedly and was not able to be contacted, as he was off on the morning of Adam’s death.
When he arrived at the hospital, he found Amy had also expressed concerns as Adam’s phone was last traced to the bottom of the lane behind their workplace.
He told the inquest he was turned away by police when arriving at the scene as they were doing CPR on Adam.
A postmortem examination found the cause of Adam’s death not be ascertained, but that he likely died from factors like cold water immersion and acute stress which can both cause cardiac arrhythmia.
The court heard there was no evidence Adam drowned in the river or suffered fatal injuries from the car crash.
Pathologist Dr Tim Bracey added that it was likely Adam had became disorientated and suffered a hypothermic collapse in the final moments of life while being under great psychological stress, as he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
RCHT has claimed processes have improved since Adam’s death in March to ensure better communication with staff and their shift patterns if they need to be swapped.
Prior to this, the inquest heard that staff were on a 24/7 rota since November 2024 as a way to reduce diagnosis, GP, and treatment delays, as well as boost staff morale when out of hour work was previously done voluntarily by only a small number of staff who were feeling under pressure.
The inquest is expected to conclude tomorrow.
