A care provider has been ordered to pay £138,170 and the home’s manager has been ordered to pay £7,170 at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court, after they failed to protect a resident from avoidable harm.
DM Care Limited, was fined £120,000 in court yesterday (Wednesday 21 June). It was also ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge and £18,000 costs to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which brought this prosecution. Manager of the home, Rebecca Tucker, was also ordered to pay £2,000 and £5,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.
Highbury House Care Home (ran by DM Care Limited) was a residential care home in Blackpool providing personal care to people aged 65 and over.
Mrs Mary Fallon was admitted to Highbury House Care Home in May 2017 and had no previous history of pressure sores.
On 5 November 2018 Mary was treated by district nurses for pressure ulcer wounds on her feet. As a result, a safeguarding alert was raised. Further twice weekly district nurse visits continued until Mary was discharged from their care on 15 April 2019.
From 23 April 2019 there were a further 44 entries in Mary’s care plan showing her pressure sores had returned. Rather than seeking treatment from the district nursing team, Rebecca Tucker instead decided to treat them herself.
On 28 June 2019, Mary was found unresponsive in bed and was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital. The inspection of her pressure areas revealed multiple areas of damage across her body. Pressure ulcers and deep tissue injuries were found on Mary’s heels, elbows, hip, buttock, natal cleft and toes.
Mary sadly died on 14 July 2019. The primary cause of death was multi-organ failure caused by septicaemia, pressure sores and generalised atherosclerosis.
The registered manager failed to ensure Mary received proper treatment for pressure ulcers and failed to ensure she received adequate preventative pressure sore care. The registered provider failed to show governance and oversight and its preventing pressure sores policy was outdated and did not refer sufficiently to national guidance.
Sheila Grant, CQC’s head of adult social care inspection, said:
“Our sympathies are with those affected by the sad passing of Mary Fallon.
“Mrs Fallon had the right to be kept safe while living in and receiving care from DM Care Limited, but in this case the provider, and the manager Rebecca Tucker, failed in their legal duty to protect her from being exposed to significant harm.
“The majority of care providers do an excellent job. However, when a provider puts people in its care at risk of harm, we will take action to hold them to account and to protect people.
“I hope the outcome of this prosecution reminds care providers of their duty to assess and manage all risks to ensure people are kept safe.”