Inquest hears of elderly woman with dementia who died after falling at a Wigan borough care home
A Wigan borough mum died at the age of 85 just weeks after fracturing her hip in a fall at a care home, an inquest heard.
Dorothy Smith was with her family as she died peacefully at Westleigh Lodge care home on March 5.
A documentary inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard she was born and brought up in Leigh and married Colin in 1963.
The couple had three children and bought a hardware shop on Leigh Road in 1967, which she ran for many years.
Mrs Smith lived alone after her husband’s death, but she was diagnosed with dementia 10 years ago and faced difficulties as the condition progressed.
She moved into Lyndhurst care home in Leigh around 12 months ago, before moving to Westleigh Lodge on January 15 for more specialist care.
The inquest heard Mrs Smith fell at the home on February 4 and was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital, where X-rays showed she had a fracture in the neck of the femur.
A right hip arthroscopy was carried out without incident, but Mrs Smith’s condition declined afterwards.
She returned to Westleigh Lodge on February 12, where she was kept comfortable until she died three weeks later, the court heard.
Coroner Timothy Brennand said: “I come to the view that the deceased has died as a consequence of injuries sustained in an accidental fall, exacerbated by her pre-existing co-morbidities, mainly her dementia. She was at the age that she was frail and unable to withstand the surgical intervention to repair the injuries that she had sustained in her accidental fall.”