Scarborough care home fined after resident fell from bedroom window and died

Comfy Care Homes Limited, which runs Norwood House in Scarborough, was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £23,137.81 legal costs plus a £170 victim surcharge at York Magistrates’ Court on 20 November in a prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment, resulting in avoidable harm to George Edmeads at Norwood House in 2017.

The court heard that Mr Edmeads was found to have fallen from a third-floor window in his bedroom at 6.50am on December 11, 2017. Paramedics were called and tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead almost half an hour later.

Mr Edmeads was at risk of falls and used a walking frame to support himself.

On the morning of his death a member of staff went to his room to check on him but found he wasn’t in bed. They noticed a bedroom window - a single-glazed sash window – had been smashed and then staff found Mr Edmeads on the ground outside.

The court heard Norwood House did not have adequate systems and processes in place to assess and review risks in relation to window safety, to identify the risk of people falling from windows that did not comply with safety standards, to protect service users and to mitigate the risk of Mr Edmeads falling.

Mr Edmeads had been assessed as being at risk of falls and was unsteady on his feet so, the court was told, it was foreseeable that he could fall against his bedroom window, therefore Comfy Care Home exposed him to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

A statement that was read to the court from Mr Edmeads' daughter, Margaret Williams, on behalf of the family, said: “For someone of 99 to die is not a surprise, but to die in the way that George did is nothing short of horrific. The passage of time does nothing to dim that horror. Norwood House was meant to be a place of safety, clearly it wasn’t.”

Ros Sanderson, head of adult social care inspection in CQC’s north region, said: “George Edmeads and his family had every right to expect safe care and this is why we welcome Comfy Care Homes Limited’s guilty plea in this matter.

“This is a distressing case, and our thoughts and sympathies are with Mr Edmeads’ family. We hope this sends a message to other care home providers that they must ensure people’s safety at all times and manage any risks to their safety and well-being. This did not happen in the case of Mr Edmeads.

“Where we find any care provider has put people using its services at serious risk of harm, we will take action to hold them to account and ensure that others can receive safe care going forward.”

Following Mr Edmeads’ death, the CQC took action to protect people at Norwood House and worked closely with North Yorkshire County Council. The home is rated as Good following a CQC inspection in September 2020.