The manager of a UK care home has pleaded guilty to a number of health and safety failings in Court, after a vulnerable resident sustained serious injuries while unsupervised.
A Court heard that resident Mr George Chicken, 76, opened an unsecured fire door at the property at night, and fell down an unlit concrete staircase – sustaining fatal injuries which eventually led to his death in November 2012.
Daughter Mrs Clowes, Mansfield, subsequently brought legal action against Rose Court Lodge Care Home manager, Ms Amanda Dean, and her employer, Embrace All Ltd.
Mrs Clowes said that Mr Chicken, who had dementia, was prone to “wandering around at night,” and that staff at Rose Court Lodge had “failed to keep him safe”.
Lighting above the stairwell did not work, no handrail was present and the fire door was unlocked, a Judge was told.
Care home owners Embrace All Ltd, denied charges of ‘failing to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the health and safety risks’ and ‘failing to ensure the safety of non-employees and to provide a safe workplace’.
But manager Amanda Dean admitted to ‘serious health and safety breaches’ and also pleaded guilty to ‘failing to take reasonable care for residents’.
Commenting on the case, Mrs Clowes, said: “Just like when you send your children to school, you trust and believe they will be cared for and kept safe.
“To think all it would have taken to save my dad’s life was a £5 thumb lock for the fire door he went through or a £20 child gate in his bedroom door,” she added.
Mr Chicken’s wife, Mrs Jean Chicken, 79, added: “If all those things had been put into place, he would still have been here; if they had done those checks and checked the safety and security of the fire door. They knew George liked to wander.”
A statement issued by Mansfield District Council read: “Sentencing is planned for 8 September 2016 and, until the case is concluded, the council has no further comment.”