THE family of a Bromsgrove woman with learning difficulties who died of complications from constipation say they still want answers more than two years after death.

Sally Lewis, 55, died from sepsis in October 2017 after faeces blocked her bowel.

At the time of her death, Miss Lewis was living in the care of Dimensions UK, who provide specialist care for adults with serious learning disabilities.

Her sister Julie Bennett has set up a 'CrowdJustice' funding page to raise the £15,000 needed for a full inquest into Miss Lewis' death.

Initially, an inquest was not considered to be required as Miss Lewis was found to have died from natural causes.

Mrs Bennett said: "Sally had profound learning difficulties and she was at the time of her death receiving 24/7 care - she was an extremely vulnerable person.

"Despite her being known to suffer from constipation, and being prescribed daily medication by her GP, an independent medical review has found that she wasn’t given this medication for months, staff weren’t trained on how to handle constipation and failed to keep records about her condition.

"Her death as a result of severe constipation was entirely preventable."

A pre-inquest review hearing was held on September 16.

The Coroner has delayed making a decision on whether the inquest will be held in accordance with Article 2 of the Human Rights Act (the right to life) or not, until March 2020.

This means there is no guarantee of legal aid funding, which is why Julie set up the CrowdJustice page.

She added: "At the pre-inquest review, Sally’s care provider, Dimensions, was not able to say on what legal basis Sally was living at her supported living placement.

"The Coroner was concerned about this and we as Sally’s family are increasingly worried that those who were supposed to care for Sally might want to sweep this under the carpet instead of investigating what happened and making sure nothing like this happens to anyone else again."

Dimensions, who had provided care for Miss Lewis for 20 years, said: "The circumstances surrounding Sally's death have previously been investigated by various authorities and we have co-operated fully with these.

"If new information comes to light during this inquest, we will carefully consider any new findings."