A 98-YEAR-OLD woman died after a fall at her care home in Salisbury which resulted in a fracture.

Eileen Hunt, who was a homemaker born in Lewisham in London, was a resident at Willowcroft care home in Salisbury and died on October 14, 2019 at Milford House care home where she had been transferred.

The inquest held in Salisbury on Friday, July 24 heard Mrs Hunt had three falls at Willowcroft. The last of which resulted in her sustaining a fracture to her femur going into the knee joint.

Mrs Hunt's first collapse was on June 19, 2019, followed by another on June 24. On each occasion she was checked for injuries.

The incident on June 25, which resulted in the fracture, occurred after Mrs Hunt had been dressed. She was asked to walk towards her wheelchair and when taking a couple of steps her knees are said to have started to “buckle” and she fell “badly” on to her knees on the ground. 

The next day concerns arose and she went to Salisbury District Hospital.

A plaster cast was put on her leg to immobilise the knee. Mrs Hunt had previously had a knee replacement, which the inquest heard can affect the bone density and predispose someone to injury even with lighter impacts and forces. She also had osteopenia which affects bone density.

When the cast was removed she had a haematoma bruise to the top of her left knee. This developed into an ulceration, which the inquest heard was likely to have been caused by the the cast rubbing against the skin. Antibiotics were prescribed to treat the infection.

She was later admitted into hospital where she contracted a chest infection.

Various treatment options were discussed, which would have been "high risk" due to her medical history.

She was subsequently moved to Milford House care home where she received end of life care.

Mr Ridley gave a conclusion of accident. He said Mrs Hunt had collapsed at a different care home during the summer and in the process suffered a fracture to her left knee. However, he said, although the knee was immobilised it had become infected and not responded to treatment which led to her death.

The inquest heard frailty of age, a previous stroke and heart attack in 2011 as well as breast cancer were also factors.