FELL FROM HOSPITAL WINDOW

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 23 October 1941, Page 2

FELL FROM HOSPITAL WINDOW

DEATH OI WOMAN' PATIENT EVIDENCE AT INQUEST Christchurch, Oct. 22. ■ How a patient got out of bed at the | Christchurch Hospital, fell out of a window and so injured herself that she died a few hours later, was reveal ; ed at an inquest before Mr Levvcy. S.M. The patient was Mabel Annie Newbery, unmarried, a middle-aged woman who was recovering from an operation undergone a week before the accident. Ellen J. Dick, night stufi' nuisc at the hospital, said that on 15th August at 12.10 a.m., in the women’s surgical ward, she heard a cry, and on investigating found a window open behind the bed which had been occupied by Miss Newbery. The bed was empty, and she found Miss Newbery lying on the ground outside. Witness and another staff nurse carried her back into the ward on a trolley. Helen Craddock, student nurse, said she was on night duty at ward 10. She had received no special instructions about Miss Newbery. At midnight she noticed that Miss Newbery was awake and spoke to her. At 12.5 a.m. she had to go to the other end of the ward. A few minutes later a patient called out that somebody was getting out of a window. Witness ran down the ward and found Miss Newbery’s bod empty and the window open. Two other nurses went out to look for her as witness could not leave the ward. The night was windy, and that would account for witness not hearing the window being opened. The windows were all shut and the sills were high above the floor. Miss Newbery would have 1o climb over a heater to get out of the window. Nobody could fall out of the window by accident. It would have to be a deliberate act. Dr. C. H. Thompson said Miss Newbery was admitted to hospital on 6th August and operated on two days later. She was recovering quite satisfactorily from the operation but was not looking forward to a* further minor operation for piles which was to follow when she had recovered sufficiently. On the morning of 15th August just after midnight lie was called to attend Miss Newbery, who had been found outside the ward and taken back to bed. She was suffering from shock and her abdomen was distended. There was no sign of a fracture. She died at 4.20 a.m. There had been some neurasthenic condition in the patient. Mr Robot Stead, for the relatives, asked whether there was any reason why the relatives were not informed of the accident till 4.30 a.m., so that they could not arrive before Miss New - bery’s death. Dr. Thompson replied that this was not the surgeon's job but the staff nurse’s. The coroner asked Dr. Thompson to draw the attention of those concerned to the need for prompt action in notifying the relatives. Dr. A. B. Pearson, who conducted the post-mortem examination, said in his opinion the operation had been successful and apart from the fall the patient would have recovered. The coroner found that Miss Newbery died from peritonitis arising from injuries received in a fall when, under the influence of pain, she threw herself out of a window at the Christchurch Public Hospital.—P.A.