Finding into death of Marjorie Helen McGibbony

75y · Female·Hypostatic bronchopneumonia in the setting of dementia

A 75-year-old woman with intellectual disability, dementia, and asplenia died from hypostatic bronchopneumonia. She had been declining since April 2016 with progressive weight loss, increased agitation, falls, and swallowing difficulties. Her GP arranged weekly reviews from August 2016. Palliative care was referred in December 2016, and an end-of-life plan was established in January 2017. She was admitted to Alpine Health on 1 February 2017 when unable to walk or swallow, and died three days later. The coroner found the care provided by DHHS and Alpine Health was reasonable and appropriate, with no preventable factors identified. The death was due to natural causes in the context of progressive dementia.