Hospital Fined £50K Over Death Of Kyle Flack
Basildon NHS Trust has been fined £50,000 after a court heard how health and safety failings were a “significant cause” of the death of a severely disabled patient.
Kyle Flack, a quadriplegic who had cerebral palsy, died in October 2006 after getting his head trapped in protective bed bars.
Basildon University Hospital in Essex acknowledged that 20-year-old Mr Flack died following failures in its “systems and procedures”.
The hospital was also ordered to pay £40,000 costs.
The Trust earlier admitted breaching health and safety law by failing to ensure patients were not exposed to risk.
It followed a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Prosecutor Pascal Bates said the hospital had failed to properly supervise Mr Flack, properly pass on information, train staff, assess risk and had not heeded warnings.
“(The trust) accepts that its offending was a significant cause of this death,” Mr Bates told the judge. “Management failed to lay down correct procedures.”
He said the offences amounted to a “serious” breach of duty and the hospital had fallen “markedly short” of the required standard.
Earlier this year, Mr Flack’s mother Gill called for hospital bosses to be “held accountable”.
Mrs Flack, of Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, said Basildon University Hospital had been the “worst place” for her son.
She described some care standards at the hospital as “absolute c***”.
The hospital said standards had improved.
Six months ago a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found poor hygiene and care standards at the hospital.
Same Difference 