Senior Carer Suspended After Resident Dies Following Fall

Thursday, 6th May 2021

A senior care team member has been suspended after a care home resident died following a fall at a care home in Cheshire.

The carer is the subject of ongoing disciplinary proceedings following the death of 91-year-old woman who suffered a fall at the care home on 29 February 2020.

A coroner’s inquest heard that the resident was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with an intracranial bleed. She was discharged to the care home where she died on 15 April 2020.

Julie Goulding, senior coroner for Sefton, St Helens and Knowsley, said:

“The care home where this lady fell did not undertake a falls risk assessment for her as they should have done. There was no falls mat or falls alarm in situ at the care home at the time of her third and final fall or at all. There was no falls prevention plan put in place as there should have been and there was no referral for advice from the falls team at the local authority.”

The coroner instructed the care home to provide details of action or a timetable for action to prevent future deaths by 1 June 2021.

The Director of Care Services Central at the care home group said:

“We take the well-being of our residents very seriously and we apologise to the family. We have extensive falls management policies and procedures in place, which on this occasion were not followed. This has resulted in a senior member of the care team at the home being suspended and disciplinary proceedings are ongoing. We will be providing a full response to the coroner following the conclusion of the inquest also. The standards at the home were not as we expect. This is an isolated incident and following our own investigation we have reinforced our policies around falls management, transparency and reporting at the home. The safety and well-being of our residents is paramount.”

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