A ‘kind, gracious and hilarious’ grandmother died after contracting pneumonia in hospital, an inquest has ruled.

Bernadette Hewlett, 71, from Droitwich, died from pneumonia at the town’s Brindley Manor Nursing Home on February 9 this year - a day after leaving hospital.

She was described by her daughter Lisa Footman as “kind, gracious, hilarious, loving and independent” and the “epitome of a mother.”

Worcestershire’s senior coroner David Reid ruled that Mrs Hewlitt died from sepsis caused by pneumonia she caught in hospital but said that the infections from a failed hip replacement and a stroke had contributed to her death.

Mr Reid said the infections in Mrs Hewlitt’s hip and a subsequent stroke had reduced her ability to fight off the infection which eventually caused her death on February 9 this year at Brindley Manor care home in Droitwich.

The inquest at Worcestershire Coroner's Court in Stourport on April 27 heard how Mrs Hewlitt was admitted to hospital in May last year after complaining about pain in her right hip with X-rays later confirming a fracture.

Doctors were said to be amazed that Mrs Hewlitt could function at all after discovering her hip joint had “completely disintegrated.”

Mrs Hewlitt was back in hospital less than a fortnight later after the wound around the hip replacement had become infected. The metal hip replacement was then removed, and the wound was ‘washed out’ before another fortnight passed and the treatment was repeated.

Mrs Hewlitt was re-admitted to hospital later that August with pneumonia, and it was also found she had suffered a stroke, and then was back in hospital in December with the wound from the hip replacement again infected which resulted in another 'wash out' procedure. 

Doctors had considered putting Mrs Hewlitt under the knife again to remove the remaining cement in her hip in a bid to fight the infection but were concerned she would not survive the operation.

By the end of the year, Mrs Hewlitt had trouble breathing with the chest infection, as well as Covid-19, which doctors said they were more concerned with than the hip infection.

By January this year, Mrs Hewlitt was still struggling with her breathing, with one surgeon revealing that she was being given the highest amount of oxygen possible at one point, and with doctors concluding “there was nothing else they could do” she was moved to Brindley Manor on February 8 where she died a day later.

Mrs Hewlitt’s family had complained about the ‘communication breakdown’ with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust over whether it was the infected hip or pneumonia which was the reason for their mother’s move to ‘end of life’ care at Brindley Manor.

Senior coroner David Reid said there were “clearly issues” with communication but he was unable to make any ruling over the concerns and said it was a matter for the family and the trust.