A TAXI driver came to the rescue and proved to be more than a Good Samaritan when she found a 91-year-old customer collapsed on the top landing of the stairs at her home.
Tracey King became an "angel of mercy" – comforting the frail pensioner, calling the emergency services and alerting the woman's daughter.
She accompanied Maisie Watson to the emergency admissions department at the Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, and stayed with her until her daughter arrived after a four-hour drive from Hertfordshire.
Mrs Watson, of Welholme Road, Grimsby, was found to have suffered a head injury, a broken collarbone and broken ribs.
But, despite these injuries, she was able to talk to the hospital staff.
However, Mrs Watson died just over two weeks later after accidentally falling on the hospital ward.
She was admitted to the hospital on November 9 but fell at about 12.30am on December 3. She died at about 5am the same night.
At an inquest at Cleethorpes Town Hall, a pathologist gave the cause of her death as a head injury, with bleeding between the skull and the brain.
Staff nurse Catherine Greensmith said another female patient alerted staff after Mrs Watson fell.
"She obviously had the sense to call and alert us – sadly, after she had fallen and not before," said Nurse Greensmith.
"We saw her and went straight in to the bay. Maisie was found on the floor.
"She must have taken a couple of steps because she wasn't directly at the bottom of the bed.
"She must have banged her head. She had a small laceration on her forehead.
"We did check her to make sure it was all right. The cut on her head had to be cleaned."
A doctor was called and the site manager also attended.
The inquest was told that efforts were being made to tackle the specific needs of fragile and elderly patients, especially as the proportion of such people in the population was increasing.
Deborah Bagley, operational matron for surgery and critical care, said that a manager was looking at buying more low beds and an order had been put in.
But she added: "A low bed and a mattress next to it would not prevent patients getting out of bed all the time."
Coroner Paul Kelly said: "Low beds are available and would be assigned on a case-by-case basis. Mrs Watson didn't fulfil the criteria for being put on a low bed."
Mrs Watson's daughter, Susan Barnard, of Hemel Hempstead, questioned during the inquest whether the bedside push-button alarm call system was adequate – especially if staff were busy and the patient was badly injured, uncomfortable, in pain, fragile and intermittently confused. Mrs Barnard suggested that better technology should be available and that, although these matters raised issues of resources and priorities within the health trust, the responses to patients' calls would be better met if there were more staff.
Mrs Barnard, 66, a retired head of planning at the London Borough of Hillingdon, said she had been told that the head injury suffered by her mother in her fall on the ward was very serious and was, in all likelihood, an irrecoverable injury. She said that her mother had been firm in her view that she did not want to endure major surgery or long convalescence if the end of her life was near.
Mr Kelly recorded a verdict that Mrs Watson died of an accidental fall.
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