Care home fined more than £100,000 after 92-year-old woman beaten with Zimmer frame
A care home in Surrey has been fined more than £100,000 after a 92-year old woman was assaulted by another resident.
Sunrise Operations Esher, the company that runs the home (pictured), was penalised for the “serious failure” which led to Eileen Traynor being admitted to hospital.
During the incident, which occurred in June 2016, Mrs Traynor was beaten with a Zimmer frame by a man suffering with dementia, who was also living at the care home.
Mrs Traynor was in bed at the time of the incident and was unable to defend herself or call for help.
She was taken to hospital following the attack and required treatment for her injuries.
The case at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court was brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and was described by the judge as “a serious failure waiting to happen”.
Sunrise pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to provide safe care and treatment resulting in avoidable harm to Mrs Traynor.
The company also pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment, exposing other people living in the service to a significant risk of avoidable harm.
It was ordered to pay a total of £125,745.87.
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s deputy chief inspector for adult social care, said: “This is a very distressing case and clearly Mrs Traynor did not get the safe care she was entitled to.
“Mrs Traynor and her family had every right to expect good, quality care and we welcome that the provider has accepted full responsibility in this case.
“It was the serious failure of the home to protect people from avoidable harm that led to CQC’s prosecution of the provider.
“In their role as provider Sunrise of Esher Operations Limited had a specific legal duty to ensure care and treatment was provided in a safe way.
“We found they had failed to do this by not ensuring risks had been fully assessed, and measures were not in place to prevent harm to Mrs Traynor.
“We appreciate how distressing this has been for Mrs Traynor’s family and we hope this case prompts other care home operators to review the care they provide to ensure people’s safety.”
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