Pensioner died after wheelchair fall

A pensioner from Wombourne died after crashing to the ground in a faulty wheelchair, an inquest heard. Mary Smith, aged 90, was being transported home from Wombourne Day Centre when the accident happened.

She toppled about two feet from the back of a Ring and Ride bus, breaking several ribs and her collarbone. The driver had been attempting to take her down a tail lift and into her house in Clee View Road. But the wheelchair was later found to have failing brakes. 

Mrs Smith went to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley and was sent home later the same day, only to return to Accident & Emergency after her daughter noticed that she was drowsy and still in pain. She died two days later, on June 30 last year, from her injuries. The inquest in Dudley heard yesterday that the pensioner had asked to be taken back home after her fall. 

An X-ray was carried out after she returned to the hospital with the bruising a day later. 

The wheelchair, which had no record of being checked for wear and tear, was found to have a faulty right brake.

It had been donated to the day centre by a charity. 

Staffordshire County Council has now agreed to appoint an external contractor to look after wheelchairs and to maintain them. 

Chris Doyle, head of health and safety at the authority, told the inquest: “As soon as we heard of this accident, we put out a hazard notice to re-inforce the principle of checking wheelchairs. 

“A tender has now gone out to an external contractor to maintain them.” 

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. 

Mrs Smith, who lived alone and was a widow, is survived by a son and daughter – 70-year-old Pat Elwell and 72-year-old Robert Smith. 

Mrs Elwell said: “If anything good has come out of this, it is that maybe the county council can realise there are issues, and improve how day centres maintain wheelchairs.”