A woman with a rare and incurable disease died after falling from her bed at a Douglas care home.

Elaine Hammond moved to Elder Grange Nursing Home in Douglas for end-of-life care on January 29 this year

She had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – often referred to as the human form of mad cow disease – in August 2024.

The type of CJD linked to mad cow’s disease is called variant CJD while Elaine had been diagnosed with sporadic CJD, for which the cause is unknown.

The disease remains very rare with only one to two diagnosed per million people each year.

Elaine was the first known case in the island for some time. Sadly, there is no prospect of recovery.

An inquest into Elaine’s death was held on Thursday and was told she had suffered a hip fracture after falling, having climbed over the bed rails in her room.

But she was only taken to hospital around six hours after the fall as staff did not suspect she had sustained any fractures during the incident.

Once at Noble’s, a decision was made not to operate due to her condition and Elaine died at the hospice on March 12.

Elaine was born in Leeds but lived on the island for a long time and worked at the Clinique counter at Boots for many years.

After the inquest, Elaine’s sister Denise Ash said: ‘Elaine will be sadly missed by her family and friends. We are truly devastated.

‘She was always a friendly face and has sadly left us far too soon. Elaine will be in our hearts forever.’

The inquest heard how Elaine began to deteriorate after her diagnosis and she was unable to look after herself. She was transferred to Ramsey Cottage Hospital.

It was decided Elaine should move to Elder Grange nursing home for end-of-life care on January 29 this year.

On March 5 this year, a staff member found Elaine lying on the ground at around 10am and called the emergency bell for help.

In a statement read out at the inquest, Ms Ash said she went to the home that day to see Elaine and was told she had fallen out of bed earlier but that she was okay.

But when Ms Ash saw her sister, Elaine was ‘grimacing in pain’. She asked the staff to call for a doctor, but they said she was okay an gave her a painkiller.

But a GP was eventually called, and he suspected Elaine may have injured her hip and called for an ambulance to take her to hospital for an x-ray which later confirmed she had broken her hip.

Crews finally arrived at 4pm.

Melvin Bufete was the nurse on duty when Elaine fell out of bed.

When asked about Elaine’s CJD he said: ‘It is a progressive and degenerative disease which affects all aspects of her wellbeing.’

On the day Elaine fell, Mr Bufete heard the emergency bell and immediately went to Elaine’s room where he found her on the floor.

It became evident Elaine had climbed over the bed rails and had fallen.

Mr Bufete told the inquest he assessed Elaine but could find no signs of bruising, bleeding or any other injury.

He did say she was in discomfort but, due to Elaine’s ‘confused and agitated state’, he could not understand exactly the extent of the pain and where it was.

If any break or fracture is suspected the home’s policy is not to move the patient.

In Elaine’s case, staff moved her into a chair to try and make her comfortable, unaware she had fractured her hip.

Mr Bufete said: ‘I checked her for any wounds and injury. If I had suspected a hip fracture I would have followed the guidelines but it was difficult to identify what had happened.

‘When I checked her again she was still confused and agitated. When I asked her if she was in pain there was no clear answer.’

Mr Bufete admitted Ms Ash raised concerns about the pain Elaine was in and he gave her codeine pain killers.

He also told the inquest: ‘Elaine could only verbalise when her sister was in the room.’

Elder Grange’s matron Eleanor Guiking also gave evidence at the inquest.

She assessed Elaine before being transferred from Ramsey Cottage Hospital to Elder Grange. She said she had familiarised herself with the effects of CJD.

Ms Guiking told the inquest Elaine’s condition deteriorated quickly. Initially, Elaine could feed herself but her coordination worsened and her mobility worsened.

She told the inquest: ‘We did everything to look after Elaine. She was only with us for a short time but we did all we could to meet her care needs with her medical condition.’

Evidence was also read out by Coroner James Brooks from staff at Noble’s Hospital. They confirmed she had sustained a hip fracture and, due to her condition, the decision was taken not to carry out surgery which was supported by Elaine’s family.

Elaine was made comfortable and she was moved to the hospice where she died two days later on March 12.

In delivering a verdict of ‘accidental’ death, Mr Brooks said there had been no evidence of any previous risk Elaine would climb over the bed rails and fall.

The one concern Mr Brooks did raise was around communication between staff and patients.

He said: ‘Elaine clearly had difficulties communicating and could only verbalise when her sister Denise was there. It would be helpful, during such incidents to contact family to see if they can help.’

But Mr Brooks said he could not say whether sooner hospital treatment would have changed the outcome, particularly as surgery was ruled out.

He said: ‘This is not a situation where I feel I need to make a formal report.

‘But I hope Elder Grange will take a look again at its policies related to falls and make any improvements in light of Elaine’s death.’

Following the inquest, a spokeswoman for Elder Grange said: 'Elder Healthcare would firstly like to extend our deepest sympathies to Elaine’s family.

‘We have taken the inquest findings seriously and have acted on the Coroner’s comments. We continually review and strengthen our procedures to be able to provide the safest and highest quality care for our residents.’