Bethany Tooke was giving evidence at an inquest into the death of Rosemary Beane, whose family raised concerns about "significant weight loss" and repeated falls at Mountfield in the months before her death.

Widow Mrs Beane, who was 89, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and a number of other long-term medical conditions.

She was admitted to Mountfield care home, on St Clements Hill, in April 2024.

She was taken to hospital in May 2025 after her daughter became increasingly concerned about her weight and noticed new bruising.

During the hearing at Norfolk Coroner's Court, Mrs Beane’s family said they disagreed with the pathologist’s findings that she died of natural causes and believed the care home was responsible for the frailty that contributed to her death.

They also raised concerns about her nutrition and the measures taken to prevent falls.

Ms Tooke rejected those claims, telling the court that Mrs Beane’s weight loss was a cumulative effect of her advancing dementia and poor underlying health.

She said: “Rosemary had Alzheimer’s and would pace continually. The weight loss was a recognised part of her condition.”

Ms Tooke confirmed that Mrs Beane had been assessed as a high risk of falls and that a falls risk assessment had been completed.

She told the court that measures put in place included 30-minute observations, fall alarms, prompts to sit when she appeared tired, and monitoring her hydration and nutrition.

She said staff were required to take the "least restrictive approach," adding: “We cannot stop someone from walking.

"Residents have the right to make decisions, so we manage the risk through observation and support.”

The court heard that Mrs Beane weighed 66.8kg before admission to the care home and 58.7kg when she was admitted to hospital.

But Ms Tooke said residents were offered a variety of meals which were freshly cooked specifically to meet all their nutritional needs.

Ms Tooke accepted that a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection, triggered by complaints raised by the family, had identified several areas requiring improvement, including communication and medicines management.

However, she insisted that Mountfield was fit to care for residents with dementia and said action had been taken to address the issues raised in the report.

When Mrs Beane was taken to the N&N in May 2025, she was initially deemed fit for discharge but was later admitted for further care and deteriorated.

She died on June 12, 2025, one week before her 90th birthday, at the hospital.

The provisional cause of death was given as bronchopneumonia, frailty of old age and poor underlying health. But this was disputed by the family, although the coroner noted they had not obtained an independent post-mortem.

Coroner Johanna Thompson said the pathologist who carried out the examination was "very experienced" and that there was "no reason to doubt his conclusions."

She added there was no evidence to support the family’s hypothesis that Mrs Beane’s falls caused her frailty, rather than her frailty leading to the falls.

She acknowledged that there had been a breakdown in relations between the care home and the family but concluded that Mrs Beane died of natural causes.

In 2022 Norse Care, the company which runs the home, was prosecuted after a resident fell from a window.

The 70- year-old man suffered head, hand and leg injuries after plunging from a first-floor window in October 2020.

An investigation into the incident found that restrictors installed to prevent people from being able to climb out of or fall through windows were not fit for purpose.

Norse pleaded guilty to putting people at risk of avoidable harm due to the unsafety of the windows. The firm was fined £100,000.

Prior to that the home was put into special measures just one year after a £2.7m revamp when CQC inspectors rated it inadequate following an inspection in October 2020.

© Eastern Daily Press