Woman who died following fall at Blandford care home didn't want to be a nuisance to staff (From Bournemouth Echo)

Woman who died following fall at Blandford care home didn't want to be a nuisance to staff

4:00pm Thursday 17th January 2013 in News

A WOMAN who died following a fall at a Blandford care home did not want to be a nuisance to staff, an inquest was told.

The inquest at County Hall in Dorchester was told that 89-year-old Pauline Mary Pengelly had experienced a number of falls after moving into Castleman House last January.

Her son Peter Fricker confirmed that his mother, who suffered from arthritis and was also being treated for depression, did not always obey staff directions to not move without alerting them for assistance.

He said: “I think Mother felt she was being a nuisance.”

Care home manager Julie Thorne confirmed Mrs Pengelly was seen by a fellow resident to fall in the corridor on August 24 last year and staff attended within 30 seconds while an ambulance arrived 10 minutes later.

She died in Dorset County Hospital on September 13, with a post mortem examination stating the cause of death was a chest infection due to immobility which in turn was due to the head injury she sustained in the fall.

Dorset Coroner Sheriff Payne said: “In the circumstances I will record a verdict that she died of natural causes.

“This was part of her natural decline.”