Trust faces patient death action
Saturday 11th September 2010, 11:30AM BST.
Health bosses are to be prosecuted after a man fell out of bed at a Shropshire hospital and later died.
The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed it is taking action against the Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust following the death of 89-year-old Francis Steele. Mr Steele, of Lower Netchwood, Ditton Priors near Bridgnorth, died two weeks after falling out of bed at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital in November 2007.
Earlier this year, an inquest jury found a number of failures by the trust had led to Mr Steele’s death.
Lindsay Hope, for the HSE, today confirmed the trust has been summoned to Telford Magistrates Court on September 27. The charge against the trust is one of failure to ensure Mr Steele was given a bed rail and exposing him to a health and safety risk, she said.
Trust spokesman Andy Rogers said improvements had been made at the hospital since Mr Steele’s death.
Mr Rogers said: “Our deepest sympathies are with Mr Steele’s family, and we have apologised for the failures that contributed to his death. The trust fully accepted the findings of the inquest held in May and understood at the time that this matter would be progressed by the HSE.”
He said the improvements included training to ensure all staff “comply with the new bed rail assessment policy, by ensuring that bed rail assessments are undertaken and implemented”.
During the three-day inquest jurors heard from a nursing expert who said the trust failed to train them correctly in using bed rails. The jury returned a verdict in Telford of accidental death, caused, or contributed to, by individual failure caused by systematic failure because of chronic staff shortages and a lack of training.
By Jason Lavan
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