A CORONER has demanded action after a 71-year-old woman died of an overdose of morphine prescribed after she broke her wrist.

Senior Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin has produced a Report to Prevent Future Deaths after hearing that Brenda Drew took morphine for more than four months after falling at her home in November 2018.

Inquiries by the coroner revealed she had been prescribed 100ml of Oramorph - fast-acting morphine - for pain relief following the injury.

Mrs Drew was also receiving unrelated medication on repeat prescription and she then started to receive repeat prescriptions of 300ml of Oramorph despite not requesting them.

The medication was requested by Lloyds Pharmacy in Ashley Cross in Poole and authorised by a GP at the Wessex Road Surgery in Poole.

An investigation is now under way at the surgery and Mrs Griffin has sent her report to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in London asking for action to be taken.

Mrs Drew, who was partially-sighted, fell at her home on November 10 2018 and was prescribed Oramorph at Poole Hospital.

It continued to be prescribed by her GP until March 29 2019 when she was told to stop taking it.

She was found collapsed and unresponsive at her home on April 6 2019 and toxicology tests revealed a fatal level of morphine in her blood.

Inquiries revealed she had been given five 300ml prescriptions between November and March and her family said she had been surprised to receive them.

At an inquest held in Bournemouth in November 2019, a GP gave evidence that "the surgery had already identified that this should not have happened" and that an investigation was being carried out.

Evidence was also given about concerns that pharmacists seek repeat prescriptions without asking the views of patients.

The coroner concluded that Mrs Drew's death was accidental.

The report has been sent to Paul Bennett, Chief Executive of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Mrs Griffin has asked for consideration to be given to providing guidance to all pharmacists to ensure they obtain the wishes of the patient before making a request for a prescription, where possible.

The Society is under a duty to respond by February 4.