Investigation and inquest
On 22nd January 2018 I commenced an investigation into the death of Mildred Horrex, aged 85 years. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 3rd October 2018. The conclusion of the inquest was that Mildred Horrex died an “Accidental death”.
At the conclusion of the Inquest indicated that I was minded to make a Regulation 28 report.
Regretably whilst the indication to make a Regulation 28 report was made in October 2018 it appears to have been missed and was not issued until June 2020 for which I apologise.
Circumstances of the death
On 30th December 2017 Mrs Horrex, who was left sleeping in a chair in her room at Pelham House, suffered an unwitnessed fall in which she suffered a fracture to her C1 and C2 vertebrae in her neck. She was taken to hospital but sadly did not recover from her injuries and she died on 18th January 2018.
Coroner’s concerns
1. During the course of the Inquest it was clear that overall the record keeping in respect of Mildred was poor. There was insufficient information taken about Mildred by the home before her admission to Pelham House, the information that was taken was at times inaccurate and this lead to an inadequate fall risk assessment being insufficient.
2. Whilst the drugs chart showed that Mildred was taking her medication regularly the amount of medication that was found after her death showed that this could not be the case. We were told that monthly drugs audits were apparently carried out but they did not pick up the discrepancies in the recording on the drugs charts and the amount of medication held.