Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has been fined a total of £5000 and ordered to pay the HSE’s full costs of £1966 after a hospital patient was able to climb out of a first floor window because it was not properly locked.
At Trafford Magistrates Court on 22 November the Trust pleaded guilty to breaching:
– s3(1) of HSWA 1974 by not ensuring the safety of non-employees – fine £2000; and
– reg.3(1)(b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by not making a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the window – fine £3000.
The court heard that the patient had been admitted to Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport on 28 October 2006 with alcohol-related problems. Three days later he was able to open an unsecured window and climb on to the sill, from where he dropped to the ground below, fracturing his ankle.
Thomas Merry, the investigating and prosecuting HSE inspector, told SHP that although the window had an integral restriction mechanism, it had been key-operated, and reliant on the manner in which it was locked. “In this case, although the mechanism was in place, it had not been applied correctly. The patient was able to open the window fully rather than to a restricted opening. It had not been properly locked and so was not properly restrictive,” he explained.
The Trust said in mitigation it had responded positively to the incident in terms of putting in place corrective measures. It had cooperated with the HSE’s investigation, and acted on its advice and recommendations. It added that the window in question was of a design that was compliant with NHS guidance on the design and installation of windows. But it accepted that although it had considered the risk, it had not assessed it properly.
Inspector Merry commented: “This case graphically illustrates that hospitals need to ensure that vulnerable patients in their care are not put at risk. This patient’s injuries were entirely avoidable. The hospital had not assessed the risk of someone getting out of an unsecured window. It had no system in place to ensure that, where fitted, window restrictors were properly applied or in use.”
Inspector Merry pointed out that this case was the fourth prosecution relating to falls from windows in the NHS in the HSE’s North West division alone in the past year.
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