THE family of a severely epileptic woman have criticised care staff who left her alone for an hour and a half before she died.

“Kind and bubbly” Helen Trewern, 39, was found dead, slumped over a bath in her room at the Church Road care home for people with learning disabilities in Wembdon last June.

At an inquest into her death, held in Bridgwater on Thursday, Ms Trewern's mother Carla Wilton, and sister Alison Francis, hit out at the home for leaving her unsupervised while she ran a bath, just a week after she had a seizure.

Mrs Wilton also told the hearing how she was concerned her daughter, who was also autistic, had been taken off epilepsy treatment drug Epilim 15 days before her death.

She said: “Helen was left alone for an hour and a half. Whether or not she was running the bath, she shouldn't have been doing it alone.

“If someone had been there, there would have been a chance of saving her.”

The court heard how prior to Ms Trewern's death, Somerset Primary Care Trust was contacted by social services, which had concerns over communication and care management at the home.

However, the inquest was told its staff are now being re-trained while 'notable steps' towards improving its communication with medical professionals have been taken, which the PCT is now satisfied with.

In recording a verdict of death by natural causes, due to epilepsy, West Somerset coroner Michael Rose said he was not convinced Ms Trewern's life could have been saved if she had been supervised or if she had still been taking Epilim.

He also said it was wrong Ms Trewern ran her own bath, and said staff at the home, which he described as 'well-run', should have kept a closer watch over her.

* WEST Somerset coroner Michael Rose also returned a verdict of death by natural causes at the inquest of fellow Church Road care home resident Guy Napier-Bell.

Mr Napier-Bell, 28, who also suffered from autism and epilepsy, was found dead in his bed last July.