Coroner's Finding: Rickard-Simms, Adrienne Rosemary
Deceased
Adrienne Rosemary Rickard-Simms
Demographics
75y, female
Date of death
2022-08-01
Finding date
2025-01-14
Cause of death
postoperative delirium/exacerbation of community acquired pneumonia following left hip bipolar hemiarthroplasty for neck of femur fracture
AI-generated summary
A 75-year-old woman with chronic kidney disease, anemia, and significant mobility impairment fell in her aged care facility despite documented high falls risk and appropriate preventive measures. She sustained a neck of femur fracture requiring hemiarthroplasty. Postoperatively, she developed delirium, sepsis, and community-acquired pneumonia, leading to her death. The coroner found the facility had appropriately assessed falls risk, implemented reasonable environmental modifications, and documented the patient's non-compliance with assistance-seeking behavior. The death resulted from complications of the necessary surgical intervention for the fracture, not from failures in aged care management.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- fall while mobilising without assistance
- patient non-compliance with safety protocols
- impulsivity in mobilising unassisted
- chronic kidney disease stage 5
- age-related vision and hearing impairments
- dizziness and postural hypotension
- postoperative sepsis
- postoperative delirium
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