£50,000 fine for Co Antrim care home following death of resident

By Rebecca Black (PA)

A Belfast-based healthcare company has been fined £50,000 following the death of a resident in a care home in Co Antrim.

An investigation was launched by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) following the death of 89-year-old Mary Thompson, known as Pat, on May 18 2020 at Rose Lodge Nursing Home in Lisburn.

Mrs Thompson had been sitting unattended at the edge of a bed and fell on to the floor, suffering multiple injuries.

She died a number of days later in hospital.

The HSENI investigation found that the care plans for Mrs Thompson indicated that she required the assistance of two carers for safe moving, handling, and transferring activities.

No formal indication was provided within these care plans as to the level of assistance Mrs Thompson required for personal care.

The investigation found that there was no formal system in place to identify whether personal care was to be carried out by one or two carers.

Instead, staff relied on a daily, informal assessment of the resident’s presentation to determine their needs.

This practice highlighted the failure of the company to ensure that adequate systems were in place to ensure the safety of residents, and to ensure that all staff were adequately trained and supervised to carry out their work safely.

The company went on to plead guilty to a single health and safety breach.

Speaking after the hearing, HSENI inspector Kiara Blackburn said: “Care plans must identify the specific care needs of each resident and should be followed by all care staff.

“Staff should not be reliant on informal assessments to determine a resident’s needs.

“Any changes to a resident’s needs should be adequately risk assessed, documented and the information communicated to all care staff.”

Pat Thompson passed away after suffering a fall at a Lisburn nursing home in 2020. PICTURE: THOMPSON FAMILY