Dementia sufferer died after bolting his food

11:00am Thursday 20th March 2008

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A MAN died at a Hereford care home after a piece of meat became stuck in his throat, an inquest heard.

Ronald Prosser, aged 73, lived at the Holmer Care Centre and was taken ill on October 11, last year. He had been eating his lunch when staff found him slumped over his table with breathing difficulties.

Emily Schuster, the nurse on duty, told the inquest she checked Mr Prosser's pulse, breathing and patted him on the back. She also put her fingers in his mouth to remove any food and he bit her.

An ambulance was called and Mr Prosser was taken to Hereford County Hospital where, despite further attempts to resuscitate him, he died.

Dr Carol Caldwell, who carried out the post mortem, said Mr Prosser had a medical history of stroke and suffered from dementia, heart disease and diabetes.

She said: "I found a large piece of meat that had clearly not been digested. The food had been bolted and not properly chewed."

It was explained to the inquest that bolting food was common behaviour of dementia sufferers.

Dr Caldwell said the cause of death was the inhalation of food with significant contributing factors of heart disease and dementia.

At the inquest, staff from the care home said that Mr Prosser had no history of bolting his food.

Herefordshire deputy coroner Mark Bricknell recorded a verdict of accidental death. He advised Holmer Care Centre to address the issue that they were unable to resuscitate their residents and to make sure residents and their families were aware of the fact.