Suffolk care home fined £14,000 after resident suffers broken thigh bone
The home was taken to court by the healthcare regulator
A Suffolk care home has been handed a £14,000 fine after a resident suffered a bone fracture after getting one of her feet stuck under a wheelchair.
The woman suffered the injury at The Red House home, run by the Red House Welfare & Housing Society, in Sudbury on March 12 2019.
The resident had issued with her mobility and has trouble using a wheelchair. Her foot had previously fallen from the footplate of the chair while she was being pushed.
During the incident in questioned she was being pushed to the home's dining room when her foot came off the footplate and became caught underneath the chair.
She was later taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with a fracture to her thigh bone and damage to her knee joint.
She had to spend 16 weeks with her leg in a cast and spent a significant amount of time in hospital.
The Red House Welfare & Housing Society was taken to court by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and admitted to exposing the woman to the risk of avoidable harm.
Louise Broddle, CQC head of inspection for adult social care, said:
“People receiving regulated care and treatment have the right to expect known risks to their safety will be appropriately managed, so the Red House Welfare & Housing Society’s failure to ensure it adequately responded to this resident’s needs is unacceptable.
“If it had used the information it had, it could have implemented measures that could have meant this resident may not have sustained an injury. Its failure to respond adequately to known risks associated with her care exposed her to a significant risk of avoidable harm.
“The vast majority of people receive good care from healthcare providers who take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. However, when a provider puts people in its care at risk of harm, we take action to hold it to account and protect people.
“I hope this prosecution reminds healthcare providers of their legal duty to always take all reasonable steps to ensure people’s safety.”
The Red House will also have to pay a £170 victim surcharge, as well as £11,000 in costs.