Gran who died after care home fall 'not given medical attention'

A dementia-suffering great-grandmother died from a bleed on the brain after a care home failed to get her immediate medical attention, an inquest ruled.

Edna Brown, 79, suffered the injury after falling at Kingsley Cottage residential home in Hednesford last year.

A care plan for Mrs Brown stated that she needed medical attention after any fall, but she did not receive this after insisting she was fine following the incident.

Less than 24 hours after the fall she was found at the bottom of stairs. She died three days later in hospital due to a bleed on the brain.

Medical experts were unable to say with certainty if immediate medical attention would have saved her life, which has led to the CPS not pursuing a criminal case against the home, the inquest heard.

Coroner Andrew Haigh ruled that Mrs Brown died ‘from a head injury from a fall when medical attention was not immediately obtained’.

The court heard how at around 2.45am of February 6, Mrs Brown, who had only been at the home 10 days, had fallen out of bed.

Jacqueline Boulton, who only worked for the residential home once after the incident, found Mrs Brown sitting on the floor with her duvet around her.

Ms Boulton then held down the alarm for her colleague, Kathleen Lawton, to join her.

She told the inquest: “Edna kept trying to get up but I told her to stay there. On the third occasion she got up and threw the quilt off. She had a very small bump over one of her eyebrows and Kate said she had to do a body check.”

Ms Lawton said there were no visible signs of injury, other than the bump.

They asked Mrs Brown if she was okay and she confirmed she was, but Ms Lawton added: “There are no excuses, we should have called an ambulance.”

Ms Boulton and Ms Lawton said they were not aware of the direction in Mrs Brown’s care plan to call for medical attention if she ever had a fall.

Shirley Catchpole, manager at the home, did know about the direction but was not called on the night of the incident, despite home policy saying the manager or deputy manager should be called if ever an incident takes place.

Both Ms Boulton and Ms Lawton informed the day staff at the home, including Maria Boote who was called to give evidence at the inquest, about the incident and they kept an eye on her throughout the day - insisting everything was fine and they noticed nothing unusual.

However at around 9.40pm she was found at the bottom of the stairs fitting and vomiting. She was taken to hospital and was found to have a bleed on the brain. She died on February 9, leaving behind 10 children, 24 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.

Mr Haigh said: “Edna had a fall but did not receive medical attention until later that evening when her health deteriorated.

“However, no expert was able to say that earlier medical attention would have saved her life, although the family insist it would have.”

Throughout the inquest it was told how Mrs Brown was a 'lovely lovely lady' who adored her dolls, which she referred to as her babies.

Speaking after the inquest Julie Fenn, one of Mrs Brown's 10 children, said: "She would do anything for anyone. She would ask people in the supermarket if she could carry their bags even if they were younger and twice her size."