Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inverness care home cleared in fatal accident inquiry

Christina Wilson, also known as Anne.
Christina Wilson, also known as Anne.

A fatal accident inquiry has cleared an Inverness care home of blame for the sudden death of one of its residents.

Christina Wilson, also known as Anne, from Avoch, was admitted to Highview House in Scorguie from Raigmore Hospital on May 16, 2013, but died three weeks later. She was 72.

A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death was kidney disease and urinary tract infection.

Mrs Wilson had battled cervical cancer and developed chronic kidney problems, needing artificial links to divert body waste. She also suffered with multiple urinary tract infections and e-coli, and had ten hospital admissions in the two years before she died.

Mrs Wilson’s heartbroken family said the home should have sought outside advice to ensure she was eating and drinking enough in their care.

The fatal accident inquiry opened in March 2018, presided over by Sheriff David Sutherland.

In his determination, the sheriff found ‘there existed no reasonable precaution’ in avoiding Mrs Wilson’s death, and ‘no defects in any system of working’ which contributed to her death.

He added: “There are no other facts which are relevant to the circumstances of her death.”

Mr Sutherland took evidence from Mrs Wilson’s daughter Morag Fraser, staff from social work, NHS Highland and Highview House care home, Dr Mary Cauldbeck GP and Jane Blair, Care Inspectorate officer.

Mrs Blair said daily records showed Mrs Wilson had very little food and fluid intake and should have been referred to a dietician or given more fortified foods like full fat yogurt.

Following the inquiry, Mrs Wilson’s son-in-law Ronald Fraser said: “They should have had another plan in place but it boils down to lack of communication. She was not getting enough fluid or food and when that was happening, the home should have got in contact with family. You put your trust in these places to do this.”

A spokesman from Barchester Healthcare said: “The team at Highview House care home offer their deepest condolences to the family of Mrs Christina Wilson.

“The safety and well being of our residents is our utmost priority and we worked with the relevant authorities to assist throughout the fatal accident inquiry.

“We would like to reassure every one of our commitment to provide the highest quality of care to those living at Highview House.”