Care company insists Shropshire resident's death did lead to changes

Phyllis Jones died of asphyxia in 2013 when she fell on a bed lever at the Westlands residential home in Wem.

The lever had been brought into the home by her family because she had previously found it useful in her own home.

The home's operator Coverage Care Services today said the death had been acted on and that it had issued warnings to other care providers in Shropshire.

Coverage Care, the county's largest independent care provider and a not-for-profit company, was fined £10,000 at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday for failing to assess the risks of the bed lever and failing to ensure Mrs Jones's health and safety.

There was no suggestion by prosecutors of any deliberate failing or ignoring of responsibility by the care home or its staff.

Judge Peter Barrie, in sentencing, acknowledged the seriousness of the incident but said it would have been hard to foresee a fatal accident involving a bed lever. The judge also noted that Coverage Care had an unblemished record on health and safety matters and the home had been rated as 'Good' in an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

Coverage Care chief executive, David Coull, today insisted lessons had been learned, adding: "Coverage Care pleaded guilty to the health and safety charges at the first opportunity, because we accepted there was a gap in our systems which allowed this device to be used without proper assessment or oversight.

"Importantly, there was no appreciation by the care sector generally at that time that bed levers posed a risk of a tragedy such as that which befell Mrs Jones, as the judge acknowledged. We alerted other care providers through Shropshire Partners in Care, our representative body in the county, within days of the accident. This was not a device we provided to any residents.

"We have also gone on to do everything we can to ensure it cannot happen again, including implementing new regular checking procedures for managers and staff, introducing software that will record equipment that is introduced and alert management to any issues with it. We have also appointed a health and safety champion who is a non-executive board member and engaged an external health and safety consultant."

Westlands care home has since been closed by Coverage Care because the ageing building was no longer economical to run as part of a not-for-profit group of homes. Coverage Care now operates 14 sites and is currently building Shrewsbury's newest home, Montgomery House, in Sundorne Road.

Mr Coull added: "Our thoughts are first and foremost with Mrs Jones's family and secondly with the need to ensure nothing like this can happen again. This bed lever was never seen to be out of place by the family or the staff. It had a tightening strap that we accept had not been secured in this instance, but the manufacturer also sells a model for use without that strap. What this tells us, and everyone providing care in this county and beyond, is that we can never be complacent and have to ensure procedures and products are assessed routinely and regularly to avoid further tragedies of this nature."