Woman,90, added to coroner's investigation into deaths at Blackpool Victoria Hospital stroke unit
Inquest to be held after ongoing police investigation is concluded
A further name has been added to the list of patients on Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s stroke unit whose deaths are being investigated by the coroner’s office.
The death of Muriel Wallace, 90, in July 2018 will be probed at an inquest to be set after a police investigation is concluded, it was confirmed at a pre-inquest review at Blackpool Town Hall.
It was confirmed at a review earlier this month that a team of more than 20 police officers is continuing to look into potential corporate failings contributing to the death, ill-treatment or neglect of 10 patients who died at the hospital in 2017 or 2018.
That review hearing concerned the deaths of Doreen Connor, 85, Margaret Hamilton, 86, Geoffrey Duckworth, 86, Norman Littlewood, 72, Ronald Humphreys, 90, David Philpott, 84, Joseph McCabe, 79, and Joan Walker, who all died in November or December 2018 and Peter Whittaker, 81, who died in December 2017.
In the case of four of those patients - Geoffrey Duckworth, Peter Whittaker, Joan Walker and Margaret Hamilton - officers are looking into a direct causal link between the care and treatment they received and their deaths.
In the cases of the others, ill-treatment and neglect is being investigated.
Blackpool and Fylde senior coroner Alan Wilson said at the review concerning Ms Wallace’s death that concerns over her care during her time on the stroke unit had been raised by her family last year.
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Mr Wilson had the option of investigating her death individually or including in the list of the other being probed and decided on the latter.
He confirmed that a further pre-inquest review into the cases is to be held in February, when Mr Wilson will hear a further update of the status of the investigation.
An inquest cannot be held until any police investigation into the deaths has been concluded.
Mr Wilson has said he is keen for the inquest to be held as soon as possible, as with eight years and more having already elapsed since the deaths, he is concerned about witnesses’ recollection of events of the time.
He indicated that when the inquest takes place, it is likely to last several weeks, with evidence covering the joint situation regarding all patients concerned in the early stages, followed by a focus on each of them individually.