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Post by Denise on May 31, 2011 12:04:20 GMT
A Llangollen nursing home has been fined following the suffocation of an elderly woman after she become trapped between her mattress and bed rails intended to stop her falling. Elizabeth Roberts, 89, was found suffocated in her room at the Headlands Nursing Home on 30 August 2008. Her upper body had slid down to the floor between the bed mattresses and bed rails where she had become trapped. Mold Crown Court heard Mrs Roberts had suffered from a previous entrapment incident three weeks before but no alternative bedding arrangements had been made. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed care staff at the home engaged bedside rails after Mrs Roberts repeatedly fell from her bed, however employees had not been provided with up-to-date training on the safe use of bed rails, in particular the risk of entrapment created. HSE found the home also failed to complete a suitable and sufficient risk assessment on the use of bed rails for Mrs Roberts, which should have identified that they may have been unsuitable in her case. There was no company policy on the safe use of bed rails and no system for routine inspection, monitoring and maintenance. Read more: www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/coi-w-headlandsnursing.htm?ebul=hsegen&cr=21/31-may-11
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