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Jury out at inquest into death of disabled woman dropped by care home workers

Lyn Parker, 64, fractured her ribs and both arms after two care workers tried to lift her using a sling in January 2021.

Ellie Ng
Thursday 06 April 2023 12:41 BST
Lyn Parker died following a hoist transfer at Tudor Avenue residential care home (Family handout/PA)
Lyn Parker died following a hoist transfer at Tudor Avenue residential care home (Family handout/PA) (PA Media)

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Jurors have begun deliberating at the inquest into the death of a disabled woman who died days after she was dropped by care home workers and fractured her ribs and both arms.

Lyn Parker, 64, received the injuries when she fell at least 1.5 metres after two care workers tried to lift her from her wheelchair into her bed using a sling, at Tudor Avenue Residential Care Home in Hampton, south London.

Ms Parker, 64, from Kingston-upon-Thames, was on the floor for more than three hours before an ambulance took her to Kingston Hospital alone on January 15 2021, West London Coroner’s Court heard.

Jurors were told that she was discharged from hospital with undiagnosed rib fractures and a fracture to her left arm.

She was taken back the next morning after a carer found her left arm “swollen and black”, treated for the “missed” fractures, and admitted.

Ms Parker, who was non-verbal, died 10 days later at Kingston Hospital on January 25 2021.

Her sister, Kim Parker, told the inquest that Ms Parker was “a victim of a catalogue of catastrophic failures”.

A consultant at Kingston Hospital told jurors that the main cause of Ms Parker’s death was “aspiration pneumonia” and that the delay in admitting her to hospital would not have changed the outcome.

Coroner Lydia Brown sent the jury out to consider its verdict at 12.24pm.

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