Pensioner at 'low risk' died after fall in room

A “TINY and frail” pensioner who died after a fall at her care home was deemed a “low risk” of falling.

- By PATRICK EDRICH ECHO Reporter

Dorothy Ann MacDonald, 86, sustained a fractured neck of femur as a result of an unwitnessed fall in the bedroom of Westwood Hall Nursing Home, near Brimstage, on August 11 this year.

Ms MacDonald was taken to nearby Arrowe Park Hospital where it was determined by clinicians that she was not fit enough to undergo surgical repair of the fracture because of her underlying health. She was placed on end of life care and died at the Wirral hospital on August 22 from multi-organ failure brought about by the fracture.

An inquest heard earlier this month that Ms MacDonald was “tiny and frail” on arrival at the nursing home after being discharged from hospital following a three-month spell. She was said to have had a “very poor short-term memory” and did not know why she was in the care home.