The owners of a care home have been fined £60,000 for breaching fire safety regulations after a 90-year-old resident accidentally set fire to himself while smoking.
Ashberry Healthcare Ltd, the former owner of Heathercroft Care Home in Woolston, was charged with failing to comply with the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order 2005 at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on 11 October 2022.
Outside smoking shelter
It follows a tragic incident that occurred in May 2018, when resident Henry Robinson accidentally set fire to himself in an outside smoking shelter. Staff at the care home called firefighters for assistance, but Mr Robinson later died of a heart attack on the way to the hospital.
Two defects in the building’s compartmentation were also found
The care home owners have not been prosecuted for Mr Robinson’s death, but a number of fire safety deficiencies were identified. In their audit, the inspecting officers from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) discovered that the individual risk assessment ‘to enable Mr Robinson to smoke safely’ had been misplaced.
Two defects in the building’s compartmentation were also found, which could potentially lead to the rapid spread of smoke and fire in the event of a blaze.
Individual risk assessments
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer for CFRS, Lee Shears, said: “This has been a very distressing case for the firefighters who attended the fire, the care staff at the home, ambulance crews, and our inspecting officers. Our thoughts are with Mr Robinson’s loved ones.”
Lee Shears adds, “His final moments serve as a reminder to care providers of the importance of having in place – and, more importantly, following – detailed individual risk assessments for all residents who smoke. They are particularly vulnerable if they have mobility problems or are treated with emollient creams, which make skin, clothing, and bedding highly flammable.”
Individual risk assessments
Three minutes and 43 seconds for anyone to respond to him pressing the shelter’s call button"
Lee Shears continues, “We work hard to help care providers to understand their responsibilities when it comes to fire safety, but as this tragic case highlights there are serious consequences for failing to comply.”
Judge Jack McGarva said that while allowing Mr Robinson to smoke unsupervised was not the direct cause of his death, the deficiencies of the current system meant that it took “Three minutes and 43 seconds for anyone to respond to him pressing the shelter’s call button”. He added that this was ‘unforgivable.’ Ashberry Healthcare Ltd was ordered to pay a total of £62,000 in penalties alongside £17,500 in costs.
Long-Standing resident
A spokesperson for Ashberry Healthcare Ltd said: “Ashberry Healthcare Ltd again extends its condolences to the family of Henry Robinson following his death from a heart attack in May 2018, when the home was under previous ownership. We know that Mr Robinson was a much loved and long-standing resident at Heathercroft and that he was greatly missed by the staff at the Home.”
“As the new owners of Ashberry Healthcare Ltd, we felt it was appropriate to plead guilty to three alleged breaches which related to the fire regulation of the building – none of which were identified as a cause in Mr Robinson’s death. The remaining four alleged breaches were dropped by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.”
Recent legal proceedings
“Two of the breaches for which we pleaded guilty concerned a separate part of the building which was unrelated to the area in which Mr Robinson was smoking. Improvements were made to the fire compartmentation in these parts of the building at the time, resolving the issues. The third breach concerned a management issue which has since been resolved.”
“As confirmed in the recent legal proceedings, Mr Robinson did have in place an Independent Smoking Risk Assessment which, in line with his and his family's wishes, meant that he was able to smoke unaccompanied. Following this tragic historic incident, we carried out a thorough review of all our services. We remain committed to providing high-quality care, putting our residents’ safety and wellbeing at the forefront in everything we do.”