THE DEATH of an elderly woman was not caused by failures in her care home or the out-of-hours GP service, an inquest found today.

Muriel Woodley, who was 85, died in Stoke Mandeville hospital on April 12 after suffering from pneumonia.

Her son, Colin Woodley, was adamant she should have been admitted earlier.

But Coroner Richard Hulett ruled her death was not brought about by neglect or any gross failure in the care she received prior to her hospitalisation.

Mr Hulett also ruled that a 12cm burn and pressure sore sustained during her time in care homes did not play a part in the widowed farmer’s wife's death.

Mrs Woodley had been living at The Heights care home in Downley since 2010 after suffering a stroke which left her unable to walk or stand.

She had been suffering from a chest infection since March 30 and the next day her son requested a GP visit to the home, worried his mother might have pneumonia.

Dr Olatokunbo Wilde visited Mrs Woodley at 12.37am on April 2 and found her vital signs to be satisfactory and consistent with recovery, recommending against transferring her to hospital.

But paramedics were eventually called the next day after her condition worsened, with Mrs Woodley failing to recover and dying in hospital nine days later.

Mr Hulett concluded that Dr Wilde did nothing wrong by recommending his patient stayed in the care home, despite Mr Woodley’s wish for her to be taken to hospital.

The post-mortem ruled out a pressure sore and healed burn on Mrs Woodley’s body as contributory factors in her death.

He said: “It is apparent to me that Mr Woodley took a close and active interest in his mother’s health and care and was in favour of hospital intervention.

“The issue is whether any gross failure and neglect added to the natural causes to bring about a premature death which should and could have been avoided.

“This was not the case with Mrs Woodley and the evidence is that this did not play a part in her death.

“With the benefit of hindsight we might wish she had gone to hospital on that night, but that did not happen and we will never know if that might have made a difference.”

Mr Hulett recorded a verdict of natural causes at Beaconsfield Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.

The primary cause was pneumonia, with the secondary cause listed as of hypertensive heart disease with pulmonary oedema.

Mr Woodley said: “I have been very involved in quality of care and that has led to me to work with the Dignity in Care project.

“I have done what I can to raise my concerns but the final decision rests with the Coroner and it is a decision I must accept.”