Rosepark co-owner ‘ignored fire safety advice’

The co-owner of a care home where 14 residents died in a blaze ignored fire safety advice in a staff training video because he did not think it applied to his premises, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Alan Balmer, who jointly owns three care homes with his parents, told the inquiry into a blaze at Rosepark Care Home in Uddingston, that he failed to implement some of the safety video’s instructions because they seemed “generic”.

While the video, used to train staff in fire safety at all three of the Balmers’ care homes, told viewers that they had to contact the fire services as soon as a fire alarm went off and to keep all residents’ bedroom doors shut, this advice was not followed at Rosepark, where 14 elderly residents died in a blaze in January 2004.

Instead, staff were instructed to check for false alarms before dialling 999 and some residents were allowed to wedge their doors open overnight.

Advocate depute James Wolffe QC asked: “Do you recall whether you noticed the discrepancy between what the video told you to do and the practices actually in place at Croftbank and Rosepark?”

“I don’t recall,” said Balmer. “Thinking about it now, the video was a generic video. It wasn’t custom-made for our care homes, so I probably thought it didn’t apply.”

Wolffe then asked: “If a resident wanted to have his or her bedroom door open you were quite content to comply with their wishes?” “Yes,” said Balmer.

The inquiry continues.

Care chief’s call for snap inspections
The Evening Times

The head of Scotland’s care industry watchdog has told an inquiry into a care-home blaze that similar tragedies could be avoided in future if the fire service carried out surprise inspections.

Jacqui Roberts, chief executive of the Care Commission, was yesterday giving evidence for the second day at the fatal accident inquiry into the fire at Rosepark Care Home, in Uddingston, in which 14 elderly residents died.

Asked by advocate depute Robert Weir, QC, what measures she would like to see put in place to prevent a repeat of the Rosepark blaze, she called for all 24-hour

residential care premises to be subject to unannounced inspections by the fire brigade.

Mrs Roberts said: “It would keep alertness and awareness high, the fact that at any time a fire safety expert could be coming to check their fire safety precautions. So they would not be just preparing for an announced inspection.

“Keeping fire safety awareness high in owners’ minds is a really high priority for us. It’s that element of experts coming on an unannounced basis that would give members of the public, service users, and staff greater piece of mind.”

She admitted that at the time of the fire in January 2004, there was “a lack of clarity and consistency” across Scotland as to what role fire services played in inspecting care homes.

Questions have previously been raised during the inquiry about why Care Commission inspectors failed to pick up on basic fire safety shortcomings at Rosepark, such as a lack of frequent fire drills and adequate staff training.

However, Mrs Roberts, said the Care Commission’s priority was to assess quality of care.

“I was under strict instructions from the Scottish Government that we were to inspect services, not premises,” she said. The inquiry continues.