Bupa fined for H&S failings leading to patient's
death
Private healthcare provider, Bupa, has been fined £150,000 for
health and safety failings that saw an elderly resident of one of
their care homes strangled to death by the lap belt of her
wheelchair.
Appearing before Birmingham Crown Court, Bupa admitted failings
in the care of 74-year-old Brigid O'Callaghan while she was living
at the Amberley Court Nursing Home in Edgbaston, Birmingham in
October 2005.
Imposing the fine, Judge Robert Juckes QC said the standards set
for the care givers had now been met, and "there was a degree of
sloppiness in the running of the house in the months leading up to
the death."
He said these failings would have made such an incident
"foreseeable" and much less likely had the home fully met its
duties.
Mrs O'Callaghan - known as Vera - was suffering from Alzheimer's
disease at the time of her death. The duty nurses had returned her
to her room on the night of October 27, following a Halloween
party. The prosecution claimed that the care assistants "were all
performing below par" and failed to check on her sufficiently.
The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that residents
were not exposed to risks to their health and safety, under
S3(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Bupa Care
Services' regional director, Tim Seal, repeated their apologies to
Mrs O'Callaghan's family and said major changes had been made to
ensure such an accident did not happen again.