Former nurse died of asbestos exposure at hospital

A retired nurse died from lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos in the hospital where she worked, an inquest has concluded.

Jean Elizabeth McCluskey, 77, from Wrexham, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2020, and died five years later in February 2025.

The inquest in Ruthin was told mesothelioma is a type of cancer which develops in the lining of the lungs and chest and is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos.

In a statement written before her death, Ms McCluskey described how asbestos dust would regularly be in the atmosphere at the former War Memorial Hospital in Wrexham, where she worked from 1963 until its closure in 1986.

Workmen would repair pipes without sealing off the area, further exposing her to dust containing asbestos, the inquest heard.

Asbestos was used extensively until the 1980s in building work and to insulate pipes.

It is now banned because of the health risks from breathing in the dust.

“Pipe work ran round the wards and was lagged with asbestos,” said Ms McCluskey in her statement.

“It was often knocked and would generate dust.

“Men would work on the pipes, and the area would not be closed off – on occasions, I was next to them where they were working.”

The coroner said he was satisfied on the balance of probability that Ms McCluskey was exposed to asbestos while working at the hospital.

He recorded a conclusion that her death was caused by industrial disease.