99-Year-Old Woman Dies After Scalding Incident at Nursing Home
Mrs Roberts, who was registered blind and lived at Glan Rhos nursing home in Brynsiencyn, asked for a cup of black tea on September 22 last year.
A healthcare assistant, Sarah Thomas, provided the tea in a two-handled beaker, despite knowing Mrs Roberts was blind.
Ms Thomas said Mrs Roberts was “very independent” and wanted to drink the tea herself.
Shortly after, Mrs Roberts spilled the tea on herself, causing burns.
The incident contributed to her catching a chest infection, which ultimately led to her death.
A senior coroner concluded that Mrs Roberts’ death was accidental, citing pneumonia and cellulitis secondary to the burn, with old age, asthma, and ischaemic heart disease as contributory factors.
Investigation and Response
At the inquest, witnesses described the incident, including nurse Jo Reavey, who heard Mrs Roberts shouting in an urgent tone and found her “distraught” with the beaker upside down and tea on her trousers.
Staff applied cold towels to the wound, and an ambulance was called at 7:51 pm, arriving two hours later.
Mrs Roberts was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, where the wound was initially classified as 8% of her body weight, later reduced to 4%.
She was discharged back to Glan Rhos nursing home but developed chest problems and was readmitted to Ysbyty Gwynedd on October 7.
Cause of Death and Coroner’s Statement
Dr Abdul Azu, a consultant physician, testified that Mrs Roberts developed a chest infection, which was contributed to by the burn.
The coroner, Kate Robertson, concluded that Mrs Roberts died as a result of medical conditions precipitated by the burn injury sustained on her leg, ruling the death as an accident.
In a statement to Mrs Roberts’ daughter, Linda Pritchard, the coroner expressed her condolences and noted that Mrs Roberts had been very close to reaching her 100th birthday, a milestone she had been looking forward to.