Guilty pleas over patient killed in bath

A court heard that a 93-year-old dementia patient was put into a bath of scalding hot water that subsequently killed her. As a result a healthcare firm has pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter.

Frances Norris had been sat in a bath of boiling-hot water at Birdsgrove Nursing Home, owned by Aster Healthcare, by two carers including 48-year-old Noel Maida.

A sentencing hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was told that on February 5th 2015 Maida and another carer - who had not yet been trained in bathing patients - had been bathing Ms Norris. After hoisting Ms Norris into the bath and hearing Ms Norris say the water was "cold", Maida instructed the junior carer to add more hot water.

In a statement read to the court by Oliver Glasgow, prosecuting, Maida said Ms Norris was in the bath "for around 10 minutes" before Maida put her own hand into the water and realised it was, "hotter than she would have liked".

She said the two carers then took Ms Norris back to her room at the home and called for a nurse after noticing her feet had turned red. After being seen by two nurses, Ms Norris was taken to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey and then referred to the specialist burns unit at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where she died on February 8th 2015.

Ms Norris's daughter, Angela Hudson, spoke of the distress caused by the actions of Maida, Aster Healthcare, and 46-year-old Elizabeth West. Ms West was care home manager at the time of Ms Norris' death.

Speaking to the court, Ms Hudson said: "I was upset to think about the pain she had experienced. All I wanted was someone to admit they had made a mistake. Six-and-a-half years later, we are still waiting for justice to be served. At times, it felt like we were never going to get a trial and it was all going to be forgotten."

Mitigating, Jamas Hodivala QC told the court that Aster Healthcare accepts that senior management at Birdsgrove, which is in Bracknell, Berks, failed in its duties to Ms Norris. He said: "She shouldn't have died as a result of having a bath. Senior management failed to deliver care to her. Aster Healthcare wishes to apologise for its serious failings in this case and accepts it should have done far more."

Maida and West both pleaded guilty to failing to discharge a duty, and Aster Healthcare pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter.

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