Shropshire health bosses today admitted breaching health and safety rules after an 89-year-old man fell out of bed at a county hospital and later died.

The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust admitted in court failing to provide Francis Steele with a bed rail.

Mr Steele, of Lower Netchwood, Ditton Priors near Bridgnorth, died two weeks after the incident at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital in November 2007.

Richard Green, for the trust, appeared at Telford Magistrates Court today and pleaded guilty to a charge brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of failing to comply with regulations.

Mr Lindsay Hope, for the HSE, said the trust could now be facing a substantial fine.

The charge against the trust was one of failure to ensure Mr Steele was given a bed rail and exposing him to a health and safety risk, he said.

“In most cases that I am aware of, where the HSE has prosecuted a trust for a patient’s death, the majority have attracted a fine in excess of £20,000,” said Mr Hope. “They are usually in the upper limit of the tens of thousands of pounds and some have attracted six figures.”

Mr Green said: “Whilst public body organisations don’t, and should not, expect to not have any financial penalty in cases for offences in their name, there has to be a different test because they are a non profit organisation.”

Magistrates decided to send the case to Shrewsbury Crown Court for sentencing where an unlimited fine can be imposed.

Earlier this year, an inquest jury found a number of failures by the trust had led to Mr Steele’s death.

During the three-day hearing, jurors heard from a nursing expert who said the trust failed to train staff correctly in using bed rails.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death “caused, or contributed to, by individual failure because of chronic staff shortages and a lack of training”.

The trust has already apologised to Mr Steele’s family for what it said were “failures” which contributed to his death.

By Jason Lavan