A private hospital’s failure to provide preventative medication contributed to the death of Lady Joan Branson, an inquest has concluded.

The 80-year-old, who was married to billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson, died on 24 November last year after suffering a cardiac arrest at the private Lister Hospital in Chelsea, west London.

Senior coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox told Westminster Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that Lady Joan did not receive prophylactic anticoagulants during her stay, despite facing a "very high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis".

Professor Wilcox was direct about the impact of that missing care, telling the court: "I do find her death would have likely been prevented and the lack of anticoagulation did cause or contribute to her death probably."

The inquest heard that Lady Joan had been admitted to the Lister Hospital on 17 November. Her admission came weeks after she suffered a fall on Necker Island, the British Virgin Island owned by Sir Richard.

From the day she was admitted right through to her death seven days later, the Glasgow-born 80-year-old did not receive any prophylactic anticoagulation, medication designed to stop blood clots from forming.

The court also heard evidence concerning the initial procedures on the day of her arrival. Dr Basir Kunduzi, the admitting doctor at the Lister Hospital, did not complete a bleeding risk assessment on the day Lady Joan was admitted.

Lady Joan went on to suffer a pulmonary embolism — a sudden, dangerous blockage in a lung artery — which developed as a result of deep vein thrombosis. That blockage led to the cardiac arrest that caused her death on 24 November.

The coroner's determination places the focus squarely on the preventative measures that were omitted during her hospitalisation, concluding that proper anticoagulation would probably have prevented the fatal sequence of events.

What we do not know yet from the inquest proceedings is what formal steps or procedural reviews might now take place regarding clinical practices at the Lister Hospital.

I'll keep you updated as any further details emerge — check back for updates.