Review into manslaughter case care home in Somerset

A serious case review is to be held into events leading to the closure of a care home, whose manager was convicted of killing an elderly resident.

In May, Rachel Baker, 44, was jailed for 10 years for the manslaughter of 97-year-old Lucy Cox at Parkfields Care Home in Butleigh, Somerset.

The court heard that Baker had given her a lethal dose of painkiller.

The county council said the aim of the multi-agency review was to establish if there were any lessons to be learnt.

The review panel will include senior representatives from the council, the Care Quality Commission, healthcare professionals and the police.

The review will focus on the period leading up to January 2007, when concerns raised with the Commission for Social Care Inspection led to police involvement.

No blame

Its purpose was not to apportion blame, the council said.

It will be independently chaired by Margaret Sheather, the former group director of community and adult care at Gloucestershire county council.

“[Somerset county council’s] safeguarding board has chosen to commission this review because it felt there could be lessons to learn from these tragic events,” she said.

“We should be clear that this is not an inquiry or an investigation.

“It will be the responsibility of each of the agencies involved to take any action relating to their services that the review identifies is necessary.”

Relatives of the former Parkfields residents involved in the criminal proceedings, and the individuals who raised the initial concerns, are being offered the chance to speak to the chairman.

NHS Somerset, which is carrying out its own review, said its findings would be shared with the review panel.