Family pay tribute to woman who died after fall at Bristol Royal Infirmary

A devastated family has paid tribute to a woman who died after hitting her head in a fall over a “trip hazard” as she left hospital.

Lorna Loxton, a mother of two and former auxiliary nurse, was leaving Bristol Royal Infirmary when her three-wheeled walking frame became lodged in a protruding metal flap which covered a bollard. She tripped as a result, breaking her hip and hitting her head on the floor.

The 55-year-old had attended the hospital for a cardiology appointment and was walking to her taxi outside when she fell. She underwent surgery on her hip, but sadly Lorna’s health deteriorated during her stay in hospital and she never left Bristol Royal Infirmary again.

Lorna, who spent much of her life in Bristol and latterly lived in Wells in Somerset, passed away on January 28 – three weeks after her fall outside of the hospital’s level five entrance. Her cause of death has yet to be formally established and an inquest will be held.

A Health and Safety Incident Investigation Report from University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, produced after Lorna’s death, revealed that the bollard posts were not being monitored by the estates and facilities team at the time. It also found that no health and safety risk assessment had been carried out. The report also conceded the angle of the protruding metal presented a “trip hazard”.

Lorna leaves behind her daughter Danni, 30, and son Mark, 35, who have spoken of their pride in their mother for living her life despite the impact of her myotonic dystrophy, a debilitating illness that causes muscle wastage and weakness.

Although Lorna had suffered at the hands of the genetic disorder in the later years of her life, which Mark also lived with, she had previously loved riding and caring for horses, and had three dogs – Jodie, Ria and Mia – who were her “babies” after her children grew up.

“Mum was such a lovely person, she loved animals so much. She would donate to animal charities regularly, and the money collected at her funeral went to the WWF, she would have loved that,” says her daughter Danni, an entertainment manager who lives near Bournemouth.

“She couldn’t work for a lot of years because of her illness, some days she couldn’t even get out of bed, but she did the very best she could. When she would come and see my shows, she was so proud of me. I will always remember how much she loved me and Mark, and how proud she was of him too for being so independent even though he has the same condition she did.

“Mum loved her music – JLS, for some reason, and 80s music – and she watched all the soaps, particularly the Australian ones, and Western films. I would speak to her all the time and she lived her life as best she could. The way we lost her has been absolutely traumatic.”

After Lorna’s fall on January 7, she was able to call Danni herself and tell her what had happened. Her daughter drove the near five-hour round trip regularly over the days ahead, returning in between for work, but said she didn’t feel she was updated properly by medics at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

“As I was so far away, I really relied on the doctors and nurses for updates, but when I would get to the hospital, she was always much worse than I expected. I was told on the phone she was ‘fine’, but I arrived after my initial visit to see her with tubes and attached to machines. During one visit, they referred to her being on life support, but I had no idea things had become so bad,” says Danni.

“When the end came, I was told I could say goodbye – but then I was told they hadn’t checked her medical notes to see she was an organ donor, so they wouldn’t be switching her life support off yet. That was devastating, to add to the fact I already had to come to terms with losing my mum.

“I would have loved to be better supported during this period. It was such a shock to learn what had happened, and then to find she was deteriorating so quickly was just horrendous. I was so far away, I wish so much I could have been closer.”

Lorna’s family has turned to law firm Slater and Gordon for support in finding answers from the NHS Trust around what happened.

Samantha Griffiths, Senior Associate at Slater and Gordon who is acting for the family, says: “This was an absolutely tragic incident and has left Danni and Mark absolutely devastated – not just with the loss of their beloved mother, but particularly the manner in which it happened.

“Hospitals should be one of the safest possible environments for people with mobility problems who use mobility aids, but this has been far from the case in Lorna’s situation. We will support Lorna’s family in every way possible to get the answers they need and deserve around her death.”