Wem care home pensioner died from asphyxia
A 90-year-old woman died at a Shropshire care home after falling on a bed lever which compressed her neck and stopped her breathing, an inquest jury has ruled.
Phyllis Jones, from Whixall, was found lying face down with her neck resting over a bed lever and her body on the floor at Westlands Nursing Home, in Station Road, Wem.
Mrs Jones used the lever, which was not securely strapped, to get in and out of bed independently.
At a two-day inquest which concluded at Westgate council offices in Bridgnorth yesterday, a jury ruled Mrs Jones died as a result of asphyxia caused by compression of the neck following contact with the lever.
The inquest heard Mrs Jones, who lived the majority of her life in Whixall, was found at 1.20am on February 27, 2013.
She had several existing health conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure and cataracts.
She also had Ischemic heart disease which could have caused her to become dizzy and may have been the reason why she fell.
At Monday's inquest Gloria Williams, assistant manager of Westlands Nursing Home, admitted checks had not been carried out on the bed lever. But she said the lever, which was fitted by an external occupational health therapist, had not come loose and had never been faulty.
Barrister Matthew Snarr, representing Westlands Nursing Home, said following Mrs Jones' death changes had been made so bed levers undergo risk assessments.
He said: "Any bed lever coming into the home will now undergo its own risk assessment and, if there are any problems, only an occupational health specialist will come in to solve it. The home has also produced a bed lever booklet which has been distributed to all staff. This is an incident that cannot and will not happen again."
Yesterday coroner Mr John Ellery said he was satisfied all appropriate action had been taken by the company to ensure similar accidents could not occur. David Coull, chief executive of Coverage Care which owns Westlands Nursing Home, said: "I would like to take this opportunity to publicly extend my sincere condolences to Mrs Jones's family, as our thoughts are first and foremost with them. Mrs Jones lived with us for more than two years and I know our staff and many of the other residents were extremely fond of her.
"Coverage Care has taken all necessary steps to ensure that such an unfortunate event cannot happen again and the coroner today stated that he was satisfied that all appropriate action had now been taken."
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict.
