A national healthcare provider has been fined £1.8 million after a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive heard before the Inverness Sheriff Court last month.
A 96-year-old resident of a care home in Inverness died in June 2022, after choking on her food, which she was left alone to eat, in contravention of her care plan.
The tragedy was that this was a preventable death. The resident’s needs had been identified. Her risk assessment identified that she was at risk of choking and her care plan set out her dietary needs and specified that she needed to be closely supervised while eating and drinking. The company, however, had failed to ensure that agency staff on shift that day were familiar with the residents’ care plans.
Care providers have a legal duty to ensure that their residents and service users are safe. The scale of the fine tends to reflect both the size of the business and the culpability of the organisation involved.
This case highlights the importance of training those who hold responsibility for ensuring the safety of some of the most vulnerable members of society. Care plans mean nothing if the individuals who are providing care are not applying them. It also highlights the risk of over-reliance on agency workers in a sector which has long struggled to recruit and retain full-time staff.
Our healthcare team supports care providers to ensure that they are providing the right standard of care and are acting in compliance with legal duties. Mistakes can cost lives and we are passionate about safeguarding vulnerable service users and protecting businesses.
HSE inspector Michelle Gillies said: “This incident was completely preventable had the company taken steps to ensure all of those working at the home knew about the needs of its residents.
“While no blame has been placed on any individual, the company’s failures in this case caused Peggy’s death.
“Sadly, this isn’t the first resident choking case HSE has had to investigate and we implore care homes companies to do all they can to protect their residents.”