Newbury care home death was an accident, coroner rules
Eighty-two-year-old died following unwitnessed fall
A CORONER has ruled that the death of an 82-year-old woman following a fall in a Newbury nursing home was accidental.
Joanne Styles was discovered on the floor of her room on the morning of Thursday, January 11, having suffered the fall during the night.
She was found by staff during a shift change at Willows Edge Care Home and taken to Royal Berkshire Hospital where she died three days later.
It is believed Ms Styles had hit her head on the floor of her room.
The inquest held at Reading Town Hall on Thursday, June 23, heard how the pensioner had been in the home for just two weeks and had already suffered two falls before the fatal incident on January 11.
Ms Styles, who had lived in Bucklebury and then Thatcham before moving to the home in Hutton Close, had a history of trips and falls following a stroke in 2011.
Assistant unit manager at Willows Edge, Karsh Davey, told the inquest that, while staff were aware that Ms Styles posed a ‘fall risk’, it was not deemed necessary to implement any precautionary measures.
He also revealed he was disappointed to learn that Ms Styles’ relatives were not aware of the previous falls, despite it being the home’s policy to inform family members of such incidents.
The West Berkshire-run home is currently rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission.
However, Ms Styles’ daughter, Alison Harding, told the coroner that she had felt the home, which specialises in caring for people with dementia, was not suitable for her mother.
She also told the inquest that, had she known of the previous falls, she would have taken steps to remove her mother from the home.
Mrs Harding said: “I would have phoned the social worker immediately and said I don’t think this is suitable.
“Yes, she was mobile and, yes, she was ‘with it’, but they put her in a situation where she was not monitored which, to my mind, is not appropriate.”
Senior coroner for Berkshire Peter Bedford pointed out that there was only so much that such facilities can do under the circumstances.
He added: “Mrs Harding said she would have looked for an alternative arrangement after hearing of the two falls. Whether that would have been done in the time frame, I very much doubt.
Concluding the death to be an accident, Mr Bedford said: “I will record she died on January 14 from a subdural heamorrhage suffered in an unwitnessed fall in her room on January 11.
“I will also record she had a history of falls following a stroke.”