A Norfolk coroner has praised the efforts of a care home that “did everything it could” to keep a 94-year-old safe – despite a fall there causing a fatal head injury.
Ethel Sage had been a resident at Broadlands Lodge Care Home off Keswick Way in Postwick, Norwich, for about a month when the incident happened on September 29.
In a statement read out to Norfolk Coroner’s Court, care home manager Tamara Crosswell described Mrs Sage – a retired dinner lady - as “absolutely thriving” during her time there.
Ms Crosswell said: “This is not usually something we do unless someone was at high risk of falls.
“She’d not fallen with us but had fallen at a previous care home.
“We wanted to ensure the family were comfortable with Ethel being here, so we honoured it.
“It helped us to monitor her.”
Mrs Sage, who also had dementia, had been checked just six minutes prior to tripping over her frame and hitting her head on the floor.
Staff immediately called 999 and she was taken to hospital where she later died from her injuries on October 4.
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Evidence from her son read out to the court described how family had visited Mrs Sage that day.
He said: “She’d had had a fantastic day until that point.
"You can’t be with [residents] all the time and she did wander about with her frame. She just unbalanced herself.
“She was getting on so well and she was becoming more active and more independent and was probably doing more than she was capable of.
“I do not have any concerns with her care or the circumstances surrounding her fall.”
The primary medical cause of death was given as traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Area coroner Samantha Goward said it was “good to hear” that the family had "no concerns” about the care Mrs Sage received.
She added: “It sounds like the care home was doing everything possible to try and keep her safe.
“It does seem from all the evidence that is was a tragic accident and that they had been monitoring her.”
She concluded the death was accidental.
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