Helensburgh care home fined as resident dies in accident

Cairndhu House Nursing Home has been fined £8,000 after the death of an elderly resident who became trapped between her mattress and a bed rail.

Marjory Black, 85, had fallen out of her bed at the home in Helensburgh, Argyll.

The homes owners, Carol-Anne Care Homes Ltd, admitted failings in staff training and risk assessment at Dumbarton Sheriff Court, yesterday.

The court heard nursing staff noticed Mrs Black was falling out of bed regularly and a smaller mattress was put on her bed as a preventative measure.

However, on fitting the smaller mattress, it left a gap which Mrs Black slipped into and despite regular checks, Mrs Black was found unconscious in bed early one morning in July 2007.

Fining the company £8,000, Sheriff Simon Pender, said the home failed to carry out a proper risk assessment in relation to the new mattress, but that he was satisfied that none of the failings was a cause of Mrs Black’s death.

Although the home closed in October 2011, but the company was still trading in the hope that it could reopen depending on the outcome of the court case.