AN 81-year-old woman fell and broke her hip after being left alone in a hospital toilet in the middle of the night, an inquest heard.

Grandmother Evelyn Mitchell later told her family she had been unable to reach a bell cord to summon help, district coroner Sheriff Payne was told. She died nine days later.

A Bournemouth inquest heard Mrs Mitchell, of Colemere Gardens, Highcliffe, had been taken by ambulance to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital during the night of January 3 after falling at home and breaking her wrist.

A decision was made to delay treatment until the following morning and she asked to go to the toilet.

Staff nurse Julia Chappell told the coroner she believed Mrs Mitchell was capable of being left alone and said she had declined an offer of help.

But Mrs Mitchell's daughter, Margaret Warner, said: "Our concern as a family is why a vulnerable elderly lady was left on her own. Her arm was in a sling and the bell cord was on the side of her broken arm."

The inquest heard Mrs Mitchell was found on the toilet floor. She became unwell and was later found to have an irregular and fast heart beat and a chest infection.

She was transferred to Poole Hospital but, despite intensive treatment, died on January 13, the coroner was told.

Home Office pathologist Dr David Rouse told the inquest Mrs Mitchell died of bronchial pneumonia due to heart disease.

He said a natural incident involving her heart may have led to collapse and said the falls were only contributory factors in her death. The inquest heard she may have been suffering from a chest infection before she was taken to hospital.

Recording a verdict that Mrs Mitchell died of natural causes, coroner Mr Payne said: "I can find no clear connection between her falls and her death."

First published: May 19