Coroner calls for changes to Do Not Resuscitate orders after Suffolk care home resident dies from choking
Suffolk Area Coroner Darren Stewart says these orders could be wrongly applied in cases where someone’s life might be saved
A coroner's calling for changes to "do not resuscitate" orders after a Suffolk care home resident died from choking.
Darren Stewart says these orders could be wrongly applied in cases where someone’s life might be saved.
On the 29th November 2023 at around 13:30, Kathleen Mary Gregory, 74, was found collapsed in bed by staff at Beccles Care Home.
She appeared to be choking on food which had earlier been left for her by staff for lunch.
Staff sat Mrs. Gregory upright and checked to see if there were any obstructions in her upper airway. None could be observed. A paramedic who had been attending the care home was called to assist. When he arrived Mrs. Gregory had no pulse and did not appear to be breathing and he verified her death at 13:45.
A subsequent Post-mortem examination confirmed that Mrs. Gregory had died due to asphyxia caused by food which had become lodged at the larynx in her airway.
Police enquiries revealed no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement in the death.
Suffolk Area Coroner Darren Stewart OBE is now calling for change after the Court heard evidence that the paramedic, employed by Beccles Medical Centre, who attended Mrs. Gregory, interpreted a Recommended Summary Care Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) in place at the time as meaning that resuscitation should not be attempted in circumstances where an un-natural event such as choking was taking place.
Mr Stewart says he is concerned that such an approach does not appear to be consistent with the terms of a ReSPECT Form and its application in circumstances of an event such as choking where an adverse outcome may be reversable.
The medical centre must respond by next week.