A British nurse who never dreamed she’d be diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness has been told that she is a victim of mesothelioma, probably due to exposure from asbestos pipe insulation at the hospitals where she worked all her life.

According to an article in the Norwich Evening News, Diane Coote, 57, of Lakenham, believes she was exposed to toxic asbestos dust while working at the old Norfolk and Norwich (N&N) Hospital, the West Norwich Hospital, and the Jenny Lind, now Priscilla Bacon Lodge.

“Asbestos lagging was on the pipes at the hospitals where I worked, and I must have been exposed to dusty conditions there,” Coote pointed out.

“At the old N&N the pipes in the basement corridors were covered in asbestos lagging and I used to go down there several times a day.”

“We also had to go into the sluice/treatment rooms where the pipes were lagged in asbestos,” she added. “Maintenance men worked on the pipes and, as a junior nurse, we were sometimes expected to clear up after them.”

Mrs. Coote’s case follows that of fellow nurse Mary Atherton, age 59, who was recently awarded compensation after she developed mesothelioma due to work at the same hospital, Norfolk and Norwich. The hospital’s NHS Trust accepted liability for having caused her disease through negligence.

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