BRADFORD District Care Trust has said sorry to the "badly let down" family of a woman who choked to death.

Shirley Clarke died after a meal of sliced creamed mushrooms on toast - despite previous warnings by her husband Alan to health staff that her food should be blended or mashed, a Bradford inquest heard.

Mrs Clarke was a voluntary in-patient on the Heather Ward at the Airedale Centre for Mental Health, in Steeton, which is run by Bradford District Care Trust, at the time of her death in August 2011. The Trust has apologised for its failings.

At the inquest into 60-year-old Mrs Clarke's death, assistant Bradford coroner Dominic Bell mentioned "significant organisational failure" at the centre. Dr Bell recorded a narrative verdict, giving the cause of death as choking.

He said there had been shortfalls in care by the Trust, but that he was satisfied procedures had been put in place to rectify that. Dr Bell said the focus of care was very much on Mrs Clarke's mental health, with not enough care for her physical wellbeing.

Nicola Lees, deputy chief executive and director of Nursing at Bradford District Care Trust said: "The Trust has assisted the coroner fully with his inquiry. We accept the findings of the coroner and wish to extend our sincere condolences to Mrs Clarke’s family.

"The Trust aims to maintain high standards of care for people. We regret that on this occasion some aspects of the care and treatment did not meet our own expectations, or those of Mrs Clarke’s family.

"We acknowledge more should have been done to formally identify the physical health needs associated with the care of Mrs Clarke, of Greatwood Avenue, Skipton. In failing to do this, we apologise unreservedly.

HUSBAND OF WOMAN WHO CHOKED TO DEATH HAD WARNED WARD STAFF TO BLEND HER FOOD, INQUEST TOLD

"A full internal investigation has taken place and details of completed improvement actions shared with the family and the coroner. We have taken a significant number of steps to improve the way we work since 2011 across the Trust, which the coroner was satisfied with.

"I am confident that we have taken all necessary steps to minimise the risk of this ever happening again."

Mrs Clarke's family issued a statement after the inquest. It said: "As a family we are obviously relieved that the inquest has finally concluded. We would like to thank the assistant coroner for his kindness and understanding throughout the process.

"We are satisfied that following Shirley's death, the Trust carried out a thorough investigation into the circumstances and that, as a result, new systems and procedures have been implemented, which will we hope reduce the risk of a similar incident in the future.

"We remain convinced that Shirley and ourselves were badly let down by the hospital as it has been accepted that fundamental errors occurred in the nature of the care she received prior to her death."

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