Clinical Negligence & Catastrophic Injury Solicitors
Inquest told stranger's details used in care plan at Norfolk care home.
Details of the wrong person were copied into a woman's care plan by care home staff in the weeks before she died, an inquest heard.
Janice Hopper, 74, was taken to hospital from Windmill House, Wymondham, Norfolk in January 2022 after she stopped taking fluids.
The hearing was told of failures at the home and delays in addressing them.
Mrs Hopper had been admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital with a fractured hip in December 2021.
Attempts to discharge her to a community hospital failed due to a lack of beds and she was subsequently sent to the care home on New Year's Eve.
A care team leader, Maria Stone, was unable to explain why Mrs Hopper's date of admittance was recorded on her care plan as 22 July 2022.
The court was also shown a document intended to detail food and drink needs due to her diabetes but the relevant boxes were empty.
Under a section titled Infection Control Policy, a passage read: "George and my family are happy with being tested", along with further details of that person's requirements. This was taken from another resident's care plan.
Mrs Lake asked whether it had been "cut and pasted". Ms Stone replied: "I can't remember."
Elsewhere, the document described Mrs Hooper as "a sociable man".
Mrs Hopper's husband, Christopher, cross-examined several of the witnesses himself and told the court the family felt his wife's short time at the home had worsened her Alzheimer's Disease.
Coroner, Jacqueline Lake, highlighted a lack of action on the part of the care home to address the shortcomings.
She concluded that Janice Hopper died from natural causes and said: "It is clear some action has only just been taken. Still not all these steps have been started and many remain outstanding and on that basis I do propose writing a Prevention of Future Deaths Report."
Kerry Tidd, who also works at the home, told the hearing: "We have put a lot in place as a result of what's happened. The culture in the home is changing."