Care home provider fined after elderly resident died
Posted: November 15, 2012
Posted in: Medical Negligence Neck Injuries Wrongful & Accidental Death
A South Lanarkshire care home provider has been fined after an elderly resident, Mrs Elizabeth Stevenson, died after breaking her neck in a fall.
The company admitted to failing to review and update a risk assessment for Mrs Stevenson and failing to provide adequate care instruction and supervision to their employees engaged in moving and handling residents of the care home in Uddingston.
In October 2008, a carer in the home was in the process of assisting Mrs Stevenson in undressing in order to transfer her from her bed to her shower chair when Mrs Stevenson fell to the ground.
The carer, who had only very shortly before taken up work at the home, was unaware that a care plan assessment carried out a month earlier. It stated that two people were required to transfer Mrs Stevenson safely from her bed into the shower chair.
The investigation concluded that the death of Mrs Stevenson was due to a failure on BUPA’s part to ensure that Mrs Stevenson’s Safe System of Work Assessment was updated. Its employees weren’t adequately instructed and supervised in how to move Mrs Stevenson safely.
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