Promise after care deaths of disabled

Bradford Council's social care improvement committee last night discussed a review of three early deaths in 2008 – a Down's Syndrome man who choked on mashed potato at Lynfield Mount Hospital; a male resident at Weaver Court care home who swallowed rubber gloves from a waste bin; and a quadriplegic woman who died in Bradford Infirmary after a feeding tube shifted direction.

The council and the regional and local health authorities agreed to the cases being reviewed independently.

The review found poor communications contributed to all the deaths and although improvements had been made, more were needed.

Liberal Democrat Coun Carol Beardmore asked for an apology for failures in care of vulnerable adults and received one from council and NHS officials.

The committee and the NHS accepted the review recommendations.