Son is angry at Fareham nursing home over 94-year-old mum's death - but inquest exonerates staff

AN ANGRY son accused a nursing home of ‘completely and utterly’ failing his mum who died after falling from her bed.
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Andy Boyd blamed Peel House in Fareham for the death of his 94-year-old mum Joyce Boyd during a heated inquest into her death.

But despite the ‘frail’ pensioner’s fall from a bed with the railings removed, Portsmouth Coroner’s Court absolved the nursing home of any wrong-doing.

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The hearing heard how there was ‘nothing unusual’ with dementia sufferer Mrs Boyd after she had ‘slid out of bed’ onto a crash mattress replacing the railings. But the mum of two suddenly became unresponsive during lunch in the lounge area on May 18.

Peel House in Peel Common, Fareham
Picture: GooglePeel House in Peel Common, Fareham
Picture: Google
Peel House in Peel Common, Fareham Picture: Google

Mr Boyd let rip at Peel House representatives before being told to calm down for being too ‘aggressive’ by coroner John Matthews.

Mr Boyd said: ‘I had concerns about the railings not being used. After the fall I was told she was fine then I find out she’s been rushed to Queen Alexandra Hospital.

‘The paramedic said he hadn’t been informed by Peel House she had had a fall. They completely and utterly failed to look after my mum.’

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But Valenzia Bagwell-Purefoy, manager of Peel House, said: ‘It was not good practice to have the bed rail. We always inform paramedics.’

But Mr Boyd rejected the claim. ‘(The paramedic) phoned Peel House to say he had not been informed about the fall.’

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Coroner Matthews said the fall had no bearing on Mrs Boyd’s death. He said: ‘Mrs Boyd was fully conscious after sliding from the bed and banging her head.

‘She was checked and able to move her limbs before being put back in bed. To all intents and purposes it was an insignificant incident.

‘There was nothing unusual and no signs of injury.’

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The court was told how Mrs Boyd’s ‘face dropped’ with her becoming ‘unresponsive’ at 1.30pm before she was taken to QA where she died the following day having never regained consciousness.

A statement from pathologist Dr Adnan Al-badri revealed that Mrs Boyd was in poor health as she was ‘frail’ and suffering with heart disease.

Crucially, the pathologist identified the deceased as having an ‘extensive bleed on the brain’ and bruising to the region. However, he concluded the cause could be ‘spontaneous’ due to old age.

But Mr Boyd said: ‘He doesn’t rule out the possibility it was caused by the fall from bed.’

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The coroner responded: ‘But there is no evidence of any injury to the head.’

He also defended Peel House’s decision to remove the bed railings. ‘Relying on a crash mattress instead under the circumstances seemed reasonable,’ Mr Matthews said.

The coroner also defended Peel House for not informing paramedics about the fall - because there was no evidence of any injury. ‘I can’t think of any reasonable criticism of the nursing home,’ he said.

A verdict of death by natural causes was recorded.

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