Operation Jasmine: Care home failures 'contributed to deaths'

June Hamer went into Brithdir in 2003 "well nourished" but by 2004 had developed a large sore

A failure to properly treat pressure sores contributed to the deaths of four elderly patients at a care home, a coroner has been told.

William Hickman, 71, June Hamer, 71, Matthew Higgins, 86, and Stanley James, 89, died at Brithdir Care Home in New Tredegar in the early 2000s.

Newport Coroner's Court heard failings at the home led to pressure ulcers which contributed to their deaths.

It follows an £11.6m inquiry into alleged neglect at six care homes.

Operation Jasmine, one of Wales' biggest inquiries, was launched after the death of an 84-year-old patient at a nursing home in Newbridge, Caerphilly county.

It led to Dr Prana Das, 73, facing charges relating to neglect at Brithdir and another home - The Beeches in Blaenavon, Torfaen.

In January he died without ever facing trial. He had been left unfit to go to court after suffering a brain injury during a burglary at his home in Langstone, Newport, in September 2012.

After the attack, a judge ruled charges Dr Das faced should be left on file and that the chief executive of the company owning the care homes, Paul Black, should not face trial alone - charges against him were also left on file.

Police investigated Dr Das but he was not prosecuted

Coroner Geraint Williams said: "While the causes of death were recorded as natural causes, experts indicate that failings at Brithdir caused or created the development of pressure ulcers which contributed to their deaths."

The court was read parts of a report by Prof Malcolm Hodkinson, who reviewed the four cases.

His report contained details of injuries sustained at the home, including grade four sores - meaning the wound is so deep it might reach the bone.

He found Mr Hickman, a retired miner, had grade three and grade four sores when he died in 2004 and "his care at Brithdir was so substandard as to amount to neglect".

The report said Ms Hamer, a retired wages clerk from Aberbargoed, had gone into Brithdir in 2003 "well nourished" but by 2004 had developed a grade four sore measuring 13cm (5.1 inches) by 12cms (4.7 inches) across her buttocks which had a "small but significant contribution to her death".

Mr Higgins, who had worked in the hotel industry and lived most of his life in Surrey, developed sores on his buttocks and heel which "on the balance of probability did cause or contribute to Mr Higgins' death," the report found.

The four elderly patients died at Brithdir care home

Mr James, a retired steelworker, died in 2003 after receiving "seriously substandard care", the report said.

All four inquests were adjourned until a pre-inquest review on 24 February.

Full inquests will take place on 1 September alongside inquests for other patients who were residents at the care home.

In September, a pre-inquest hearing took place in Newport into the deaths of another three residents who died at the home - Evelyn Jones, Stanley Bradford and Edith Evans.

An inquest into the death of Dorothea Hale, who died at Bargoed's Grovesnor Nursing Home, will be held separately.