An elderly woman was found dead in her Barkingside home after choking on food in between carers’ visits, a court has heard.
Beverley Davis, 79, was discovered in her property in Hatfield Close on January 19.
Her death was referred to East London Coroner’s Court for investigation after the Metropolitan Police Service “could not determine a cause of death”.
Senior coroner Graeme Irvine commissioned a post-mortem investigation, conducted on January 28.
It attributed Mrs Davis’s death to choking, caused by a “food bolus in the oropharynx”.
The oropharynx is the middle of the throat, and a food bolus is the technical term for any piece of semi-solid food that gets stuck there.
The post-mortem also found Mrs Davis had an intestinal obstruction caused by a hernia.
“Given the cause of death, I think it is appropriate to open an inquest,” said the coroner.
Inquests are held in the public interest to investigate unexplained or unnatural deaths and whether future similar deaths might be avoidable.
Mr Irvine ordered disclosure of Mrs Davis’s GP records and documents held by a domiciliary care organisation which made visits to her property.
The requested documents included a statement from the care provider’s manager setting out Mrs Davis’s care plan, and a “statement from the carer who last saw Mrs Davis alive on a home visit".
He also requested records held by police, who were called out to Mrs Davis’s unexpected death and referred it to the court.
Mr Irvine declared Mrs Davis’s family “interested persons” – a legal status which entitles them to scrutinise all the evidence gathered ahead of the final inquest and question any witnesses called to court to testify.
He asked the family to provide a general background statement incorporating who Mrs Davis was in life and any concerns they had about her death.
The final inquest was listed for July 29.
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