Care home operator fined following patient death

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how Michael Ibbetson, a resident of a care home in Owestry, Shropshire, was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs leading to the cellar with his wheelchair on top of him.

Mr Ibbetson, who had one leg amputated at the knee, was last seen by the nurse on shift going into a lift by the cellar door to go to his room on the first floor.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although the door to the cellar had a key pad latch and was fitted with a self-closing device, it opened onto the stairs so that the first step was directly behind the door. The handrail was fitted in such a way that it was not possible to have a good handhold along its length, and there was no hand rail at the top of the stairs due to the door opening. The door was used daily by kitchen staff and the maintenance man. The investigation also found that Akari Care had not produced a risk assessment for access and use of the cellar and therefore had did not take account of the fact that the door opened inwards directly onto the stairs without a sufficient landing area.

Akari Care was found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £41,997.48.