Heathercroft Care Home owners fined after shocking incident

Ashberry Healthcare Ltd, which ran the former Heathercroft Care Home in Woolston until 2021, pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to comply with the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order 2005 at Warrington Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Tuesday.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service brought the charges after firefighters were called to the home on May 21, 2018, by carers who found Henry Robinson on fire in an outdoor smoking shelter.

He died on the way to Whiston Hospital as a result of a heart attack - although Ashberry Healthcare Ltd was not prosecuted for his death.

Inspecting officers found that an individual risk assessment to enable Mr Robinson to smoke safely had gone missing.

Their audit also uncovered two defects in the building’s ‘compartmentation’, potentially allowing smoke and flames to spread in the event of a fire.

Sentencing, Judge Jack McGarva said the decision to allow Mr Robinson to smoke unsupervised did not cause his death.

But he said it was ‘unforgivable’ that deficiencies in a safe system of work led to it taking three minutes and 43 seconds for anyone to respond to him pressing the shelter’s call button.

He ordered the Hemel Hempstead-based company to pay a total of £62,000 in fines and costs of £17,500.

Welcoming the sentencing, Lee Shears, assistant chief fire officer for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, 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.

“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.

“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.”

It was announced in early 2021 that Heathercroft Care Home would close at the end of June 2021 due to ‘current challenges facing the sector’, affecting 45 residents and 70 members of staff.

The premises had previously been rated inadequate following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission in July 2020 and placed into special measures.

A spokesman 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.

"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.”