Coroner's Finding: Fowle, Colleen Margaret

78y · Female·urinary tract infection and pneumonia on a background of facial fractures and dementia

A 78-year-old woman with mixed dementia living in aged care suffered an unwitnessed fall on 22 March 2023, sustaining facial fractures and eye laceration. The fractures were not identified during her initial hospital assessment as radiological imaging was not deemed necessary, despite head injury. She was discharged and gradually deteriorated with declining oral intake and mobility. Readmitted on 15 April with urinary tract infection, pneumonia, severe hypernatraemia, and hyperosmolality, she died on 18 April. The coroner found the overall care appropriate and that the failure to identify fractures did not contribute to death, as they would have been managed conservatively. Her death resulted from natural progression of underlying dementia and infections. No recommendations were made.