Care home boss gave insufficient warning before fatal pool accident – inquest
A care home boss should have told staff not to jump in a pool before a man with Down’s syndrome died when his carer “landed on him”, an inquest has heard.
Michael Parker died while on holiday in Spain with residents and staff from The Grange care home in Bookham, Surrey, where he lived.
The trip leader did not warn staff before or during the holiday that they and the clients were not allowed to jump into the hotel pool, assistant coroner Krestina Hayes found after an inquest into Mr Parker’s death.
Support worker Harry Beckwith, who was on the trip, had told Surrey Coroner’s Court that the day before the fatal incident, members of the group – including himself and Mr Parker – were jumping into the pool and that no-one had told them that was not permitted.
Mr Beckwith said that on June 11 2023 Mr Parker, 43, was “jumping in and out of the pool, doing his dancing and all that, so I decided to jump in with him so he could enjoy his holiday, and we jumped in and out a few good times before the incident happened”.
He said Mr Parker (pictured) jumped into the pool “to his left” and “I jumped to the right trying to miss him but somehow he had gone underneath me and I landed on him”.
The following day Mr Parker died in Tarragona, Spain, from acute respiratory failure after a spinal cord injury, the coroner found.
Mrs Hayes said the the rule about the pool was not part of the risk assessment and the assessment was not checked by The Grange health and safety lead.
A dynamic risk assessment was carried out at the pool by the trip leader but the support worker who collided with Mr Parker had not been told about the results, Mrs Hayes found.
The coroner said Mr Parker jumped into the swimming pool the day before the collision and afterwards was told it was not allowed.
However, the leader did not tell the carer who was involved in the accident that Mr Parker had jumped in, Mrs Hayes said.
She found the leader also failed to remind carers that no one on the trip was allowed to jump in.
Senior support worker Joanna Henderson said she asked Mr Parker not to jump into the pool when she saw him doing so on June 10.
Mr Beckwith told the inquest that after landing on Mr Parker he realised he was “not there” and had gone “to the bottom”.
He said he went down to pull him up before taking him to the stairs of the pool and asking a lifeguard for help.
Mr Beckwith said he had not received any lifeguard training before the trip but had completed some training on safety and taking care of clients in and around swimming pools.
He told the court he had had no specific training regarding individuals with Down’s syndrome and did not have any difficulties communicating with Mr Parker.
The Grange has been approached for comment.
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