Rose Hollingworth with her dog, Wilma

A CORONER has found “significant failings” in the care given to an 83-year-old who was found in her bed with vomit and blood-stained sheets.

Rose Hollingworth died last January after suffering a stroke. This was described as “unsurvivable” at an inquest on Monday and her death was registered as being from natural causes.

But the hearing at St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard concerns about how she was looked after by a care company contracted by Islington Council.

HomeDotCare (HDC) had sent a carer to her home that morning on the Andover Estate and found her in bed – which the court heard was unusual as she was normally an early riser.

She called the company and was told to leave her and to come back later.

When she returned in the afternoon, Ms Hollingworth was in the same position. Paramedics were called and she was taken to the Whittington Hospital, where she died the next day.

Ashley Earl, part of the 999 team who attended the flat, said in a written statement to the court: “The patient was lying prone and face down in her pillow. There was coffee-looking liquid on the patients face and bedding which was very dried. Large blood clots were visible and also dried on the sheets.”

HDC, in agreement with the coroner, did not give evidence in court, as the cause of death had been listed as natural.

But coroner Jonathan Stevens said there should have been a “proper welfare check” and the carer should have been concerned that Ms Hollingworth “was not up and awaiting her as usual”.

He also said he was “concerned” that HDC had told the carer it was fine for Ms Hollingworth to be left until the afternoon. The coroner, however, clarified that none of these failings or concerns contributed to Ms Hollingworth’s death.

After the hearing, Ms Hollingworth’s relatives said they remained unhappy with the care firm.

Michael Taylor, Ms Hollingworth’s nephew, said “Rose was not able to pass away with dignity.”

The pensioner’s niece, Debbie Fossey, said: “Michael and I are resolute that while we have to accept the findings as a natural cause, we will never accept that the care extended to Rose did not exacerbate that natural ending. A simple ‘we will do better’ will not suffice.

“Our whole raison d’etre from the start has been about having this not happen to other people.”

Islington Council said it had reviewed all of its arrangements with HDC and that they were still in place.

In an email statement to the Tribune, HDC said: “HDC would wish to extend its condolences to Rose’s family. On the morning of 3 January 2022 the carer attended and found Rose to be asleep and snoring. Rose had complained of not sleeping well at nights and had made her carers aware she liked a lie-in.”

It added: “We considered that it was reasonable not to disturb her that morning, noting we’d be back at lunch time. When our carer returned she found her position to be unchanged and of concern and called the ambulance.

“We have been actively making improvements to our systems following Rose’s death and will continue to cooperate with any further investigations.”

There is an ongoing police investigation into the care received by Ms Hollingworth but nobody or company is currently facing any charges, the inquest heard.

Ms Hollingworth moved to the borough from Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1960s.

Ms Fossey said: “She fecked off with the travelling circus all around Ireland when she was 14. Then she had a dalliance with [Irish folk singer] Luke Kelly when she came back when she was about 16 or 17 … Our aunty Marie told us, ‘oh yeah, she was with him about a year.’”

She added: “She was a feminist before her time. We have a photo of her holding a pride rainbow umbrella from years ago as well. She’s celebrating pride before it even existed.

“She made no judgement of anyone – it didn’t matter to Rose if you were black, white, gay, straight, she stood up for everybody.”

An Islington Council spokesperson said: “We offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of Rose Hollingworth for their very sad loss.

“We’ve reviewed all care packages provided by HomeDot Care to people in Islington.  We’ve also worked with the agency to improve their service delivery, and we continue to monitor the situation and regularly meet with HomeDot Care, and at present are satisfied with the service being delivered on the council’s behalf. Safeguarding our most vulnerable residents is our top priority and we will carefully consider all findings from the inquest and will take any appropriate actions.”