Investigation and inquest
On the 23rd January 2015 I commenced an investigation into the death of Joyce Hartford
Circumstances of the death
The deceased was a frail lady with a number of pre-existing co-morbidities. She suffered a fall at her place of residence which resulted in a fracture, necessitating operations to repair this. Unfortunately the deceased’s overall health continued to deteriorate and she died on the 23rd January 2015 at her home address.
A (non-invasive) post mortem medical examination took place and the medical cause of death was given as:
1a) Pneumonia
2) Right neck of femur osteoporotic fracture (operated), Caecal carcinoma
Coroner’s concerns
1. During the course of the inquest hearing it became apparent that the nursing tools (in particular, the ‘Purpose T’), assessments, records, associated documentation and nursing discharge summary were incomplete and/or inaccurate. Whilst I was told that the Trust, to its credit, had been conducting audits since the Summer of 2014 in order to improve nurse record keeping, Mrs Hartford died in January 2015 and the evidence at inquest did not disclose any material improvement in overall standards.
As this was not the first case over which I had presided that involved concerns arising from record keeping that fell below expectation (over and above the aforementioned) I considered that I was under an obligation to bring this to your attention.