Autistic Woman Who Choked and Later Died Prompts Care Review

Autistic woman who choked and later died prompts care review

60-year-old Helen Burnell choked at Somerset Court when the food she was given was not cut into sizes. She later died in hospital.

Autistic woman died after choking care plan ignored at local residential campus

An autistic woman died after choking on a sandwich as care staff failed to follow a plan stating her food should be cut into bite-sized pieces, a review has concluded. It has emerged this week that Helen Burnell, 60, died in July 2019 after the incident at Somerset Court, a residential campus in Brent Knoll near Burnham-On-Sea, run by the National Autistic Society (NAS), where she had lived for 45 years. A Safeguarding Adults Review has now been…