By Staff Reporter

Last updated 15:54, Wednesday, 29 October 2008

AN 87-YEAR-OLD woman fell and later died after a catalogue of blunders at the West Cumberland Hospital, an inquest has heard.

Mary Marshall, known as Marie, died three weeks after falling down a step in the Whitehaven hospital following a series of events which her family’s solicitor said represented “an astonishing lack of care”.

Mrs Marshall, who was partially sighted, was left unattended when she walked through a door leading from the discharge lounge to a corridor. She fell eight inches from a step on the other side.

The inquest heard that the door was locked only with a thumb-turn lock and a warning sign was away being laminated at the time of the accident, on October 1 last year.

Mrs Marshall, who was twice widowed, fractured her hip and arm and suffered extensive bruising to her face. She underwent surgery but died 10 days later.

At an inquest into Mrs Marshall’s death, West Cumbria coroner John Taylor recorded a verdict of accidental death, adding that there was a “causal link between the fall and the death”.

However, solicitor Marcus Nickson, for the Marshall family, claimed that Mrs Marshall’s death represented criminal negligence on the hospital’s part. “This is likely to cause serious public concern,” he said. “What we have is a partially sighted 87-year-old lady, who walked with the aid of a stick, who was left unattended for three or four minutes during which time she went through, to all intents and purposes, an unlocked door without a warning sign and fell to her death.”

The inquest also heard from Valerie Wright, the matron for surgical services at WCH, that no risk assessment had been carried out on the discharge room since it was built in 2002, and staff were unaware that there was a step on the other side of the door.

Solicitor Joanne Neale, representing the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, told the inquest that measures have been taken to stop such a tragedy from happening again.

“These circumstances do not fall within the definition of criminal negligence. There have been no previous incidents like this and reasonable steps were taken to make sure people didn’t use the door, and there was some supervision in the discharge lounge,” Miss Neale said.

Mother-of-three Mrs Marshall was admitted to hospital on August 18 2007 suffering from back pain. She was treated and deemed fit enough to go home – to Stafford Court, Cleator Moor – on October 1 so was taken from Crummock Ward to the discharge suite at 10.30am and was due to be collected by the hospital transport between 2.30pm and 3.30pm. She had been taken to the suite more than four hours before her departure time because her bed was needed.

At 1.30pm, Mrs Marshall decided to leave the suite to head for the hospital hairdressing salon to pay for a haircut she had had earlier in the day. She asked a relative of a patient who was also in the discharge room to open the door which she believed led to the salon. That is when she fell.

Matron Wright told the inquest that one healthcare assistant and four pre-assessment nurses oversee the discharge lounge, but none were present when Mrs Marshall fell. The door in question is now permanently locked.

Mrs Marshall underwent an operation for her injuries, but her condition fluctuated and she contracted the virus C Difficile and died 10 days later.

After the inquest, Mr Nickson said: “The family feels very strongly that the hospital failed to fulfil its duty of care to this lady.”