Care home operator fined £120,000

A Shropshire care home operator has been fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £41,997after the death of a vulnerable patient in one of its residences. The patient was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs leading to the cellar with his wheelchair on top of him. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although the door to the cellar had a key pad latch and was fitted with a self-closing device it opened inwards directly onto the stairs without a sufficient landing area. The investigation also found that a risk assessment had not been produced for access and use of the cellar. The inspector commented that the door was in regular use by kitchen and maintenance staff and as the deceased was unlikely to have known the key pad number to the door, the door cannot have been properly closed and locked.