A NEWPORT woman died after falling down hospital stairs days after she was admitted as a patient, an inquest heard yesterday.

Sharon Elizabeth Mayes, 44, was walking home with her partner Leonard Dowding from a friend’s house on June 13, 2008, when she complained of feeling dizzy.

Miss Mayes was taken to the city's Royal Gwent Hospital by ambulance and put on the short stay ward at about 7.30pm.

She complained of shortness of breath and persistent chest pain and transferred to ward D1 west.

On June 16 at 1.30pm emergency staff were called to the smoking area where Miss Mayes was lying on a bench as a result of suffering from some sort of seizure and was taken back to a ward.

Assistant clinical director of Aneurin Bevin local health board, Katy Hooton, said Miss Hayes’ condition was monitored and she was advised not to leave the ward again.

At around 6.30pm Miss Mayes was found collapsed and unconscious in a hospital stairwell.

Gwent Coroner David Bowen said this fall was probably as a result of a further seizure while going out for a cigarette.

Two witnesses who were waiting in the lifts nearby heard a noise like a suitcase falling and went out to see Miss Mayes face up, two steps up from the bottom of the stairs with one shoe off.

Doctors concluded there was nothing which could be done surgically and Miss Hayes died at 10.40pm.

The inquest heard how lighting in the stairwell was found to be adequate and hand rails fixed to the stairs were in a good condition.

Although the staircase where Miss Mayes fell was not covered by CCTV, footage of the landings on to other stairwells was checked by police.

The inquest heard how Miss Mayes had over the years developed a problem with alcohol.

She had a medical history of suffering seizures particularly when withdrawing from alcohol, it heard.

A post mortem examination concluded Miss Mayes died from a brain haemorrhage, consistent with a fall.

There was no evidence of any third party involvement and Mr Bowen ruled the cause of death was accidental.