Care Home Fined £46k After Fatal Fire

An Isle of Man care home has been fined £46,000 for health and safety breaches after a 95-year-old died as a result of a fire in 2019. Elder Healthcare, which runs the care home, also provides emergency assistance to residents in the adjacent apartments.

The court heard Elder Healthcare was not to blame for the death of Olive Renecle, who lived in a sheltered flat connected to the care home in Douglas. However, Deemster Graeme Cook said ‘shortcomings’ were found in fire safety training and procedures.

Smoke and heat detectors

Smoke and heat detectors were linked to the nurse call center at the home, which is required to give emergency assistance to the residents in sheltered accommodation on Fuchsia Lane and Fuchsia Court.

The hearing was told that a smoke detector had triggered the call system on 17 November 2019, but staff could not work out which flat the alarm was related to due to problems with the documentation and contact lists – the list used by nursing staff only showed flats 1 to 22. Ms. Renecle lived in number 32. Unable to identify the source of the alarm, the staff silenced the alarm and did not call the fire service at that point.

electrical fault

An investigation into the incident also revealed that staff weren't given formal training

The court was told the fire was caused by an electrical fault as a result of an electric heater being left on overnight. An investigation into the incident also revealed that staff weren't given formal training on what to do if an alarm went off in the sheltered accommodation, and that there were no procedures on what to do if staff were unable to locate an alarm.

A neighbor called 999 after noticing smoke coming from the flat, with firefighters attending the scene shortly after. Olive was taken to hospital but later died.

fire risk assessments

Elder Healthcare was fined £46,000 and ordered to pay a further £4,000 in prosecution costs, with Deemster Cook saying to the healthcare provider that 'this must never happen again', calling the incident an 'unfortunate and awful occurrence'.

The company claims it has since updated its contact lists and training, and fire risk assessments have been put in place.