Man's bed death was avoidable, says coroner

The death of a retired police officer who got his head trapped in a hospital bed was an avoidable accident, an inquest has concluded.

Max Dingle, 83, of Newtown, Powys, died after he became stuck between the rails and mattress at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on 3 May 2020.

The initial post-mortem test gave the cause of death as heart disease.

But a second examination, commissioned by Mr Dingle's son, found entrapment and asphyxiation to be the cause.

After comparing and discussing their findings, both pathologists then agreed "entrapment did play a significant part in the cause of death", the senior coroner for Shropshire John Ellery said.

The inquest was told Mr Dingle's son Phil had asked for the second post-mortem test because "did not accept" the initial findings and had sought the opinion of a pathologist in Australia, where he lives.

Max Dingle, who had been admitted to the hospital with shortness of breath, died 15 minutes after he was found to be trapped, the hearing was told.

Concluding the inquest, Mr Ellery said: "Based on all the evidence, the conclusions of this inquest are Mr Dingle's death was an avoidable accident."

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Source: BBC News, 1 June 2022