THE widow of York musician Bev Jones has welcomed measures to tackle failings at his care home - but told of her sadness that it took his tragic death to prompt such action.

Lesley Jones was speaking yesterday after a coroner holding an inquest into her diabetic husband’s death in February 2016 at Harrogate Hospital - where he had been taken by paramedics from Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough - concluded he died of natural causes.

She said she was “absolutely delighted” that the home’s owners Barchester Healthcare were going to carry out “huge improvements” to ensure other diabetic residents did not experience the deficiencies in care which he had suffered.

She said: “I am glad that what Bev went through won’t happen to anyone else.”

However, she also wished her husband had not had to experience the home’s failings.

“Yes, Bev was very sick, but no one should have to spend their last few days as he did,” she added.

Mrs Jones told the inquest on Monday how she had visited the home on February 26, with nobody calling her beforehand to warn her that her husband was ill, to find him “virtually comatose” on his bed.

An agency nurse, Susan Nyakwangwa, said she had found that morning that Mr Jones had very high blood sugar levels and claimed she had rung a local GP surgery about this before lunchtime, at the request of another nurse at the home. But the inquest heard phone records showed no call was made from the home to the practice before 2.04pm, and the nurse also failed to make notes about Mr Jones’ treatment through the day.

Pathologist Dr Carl Gray, who carried out a post mortem examination, said Mr Jones was found to have been suffering from several serious illnesses, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s, pneumonia and vascular disease and it was his opinion that he probably would still not have pulled through even if he had been taken to hospital earlier.

Coroner Jon Heath, concluding yesterday that Mr Jones’ death was due to “natural causes”, said he was satisfied that action had already been undertaken by Barchester Healthcare to address concerns about his care at the home, and he did not need to take any action.

Mrs Jones said her husband, 75, of Copmanthorpe, who was a leading chorister, composer, arranger, teacher and musical director, and sang as a schoolboy at the Queen’s Coronation, lived for music and had attempted to sing at the home just a day before he died, adding: “His operatic voice was still there.”

A Barchester spokeswoman said the Thistle Hill team offered its deepest condolences to Mr Jones’ family.

She added: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our utmost priority and we worked with the relevant authorities to assist throughout their investigation.”