Council fined £500,000 over death of care home resident

Derbyshire County Council has been ordered to pay £500,000 following the death of a dementia resident at a Sheffield care home.

The council was also ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge and £5,124 costs, as a result of the prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Audrey Allen, 80, died in hospital a month after repeatedly falling at The Grange Care Home in Eckington in March 2016.

Ms Allen, a former nurse, suffered rib fractures in March 2016. These fractures lacerated one of Ms Allen’s lungs, leading to a haemorrhage which caused her death at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

Derbyshire County Council had previously pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment, which resulted in 'avoidable harm' to Audrey Allen.

Rob Assall-Marsden, interim deputy chief inspector for adult social care for CQC, said: “Audrey Allen and her family had every right to expect safe care and this is why we welcome Derbyshire County Council’s guilty plea in this matter.

“This is a distressing case and our thoughts and sympathies are with Ms Allen’s family. We hope this result sends a message to other care home providers that they must ensure people’s safety at all times and manage any risks to their wellbeing."

He added: “This was a serious failure on the part of Derbyshire County Council. As a provider of care services, it had a specific legal duty to ensure care and treatment was provided safely to Ms Allen."

As a midwife, Ms Allen met Princess Anne

The court heard Ms Allen fell while in a communal area at the home and the staff moved Ms Allen to her bed. Although she reported pain in her left side no medical advice was sought.

The following morning, staff found Ms Allen unresponsive and they called for an ambulance. Paramedics were not informed that Ms Allen had suffered a fall the previous evening, nor were they advised that she reported being in pain.

Ryan Donoghue, prosecuting, said: “Audrey Allen was known to be at high risk of falling, yet Derbyshire County Council failed to adequately assess or meet her needs.

“The council has accepted that its falls policy was not fit for purpose or properly implemented, that protective measures to reduce the risk of Ms Allen falling were not in place and that it should have referred her to a falls specialist.”

The court heard Ms Allen had lived a full and generous life. She worked as a senior midwife where she met Princess Anne. Outside of work, Ms Allen enjoyed spending time with her family which included several nephews and nieces. She loved animals and owned west highland white terriers, which she took to dog shows.

Summing up, Judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “Miss Allen had the right to a comfortable end to a dignified life. She, her family and friends were totally let down.

"Derbyshire County Council fell far below the standards of safe care and treatment that Miss Allen should have been able to expect.”

Council apologises 'wholeheartedly' to Ms Allen's family

Councillor Barry Lewis from Derbyshire County Council said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Miss Allen’s family and apologise wholeheartedly for the failings that caused her death.

“In this case, our actions fell below the high standards that we expect of ourselves and we are truly sorry for what happened.

“The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our number one priority and we have worked extremely hard to address the issues involved in this tragic case.

“We have implemented a number of changes to do our best to ensure this can’t happen again by reviewing and revising our falls policy, increasing staffing in the service and implementing changes to our pre-admission assessment.

“Three years on we continue to build on the progress we’ve made and a recent independent inspection of the home found evidence of improvements in the recording of falls and the admission process."

This prosecution is the first the CQC has brought against a local authority since it was given powers to prosecute health and social care providers for failing to provide safe care and treatment back in 2015.