Care home operator fined £1.9m after Inverness resident choked on food while unattended

A care home company has been fined over £1.9m after an elderly resident choked on a piece of food while eating her evening meal alone in her room.

Margaret Campbell had been transferred to Cradlehall Care Home in Inverness in 2019 from Raigmore Hospital with clear instructions for eating and supervision due to her choke risk.

The 96-year-old resident was left unattended for 20 minutes – contrary to her care plan – while she was eating her supper of macaroni and chips.

Sheriff Robert Frazer at Inverness Sheriff Court was told that although the food had been properly prepared in small chunks for her, she still choked.

He attached no blame to the 18-year-old carer and two agency workers who had been left in charge of the Cawdor Unit where Mrs Campbell was accommodated, after a senior staff member had unexpectedly gone home ill.

In addition, the Sheriff noted that the employees had also been distracted by other residents who required assistance and this prevented the teenager from returning to Mrs Campbell’s room sooner.

He said: “The offence is very serious given that a resident died in the home who were responsible for her care and for which there was a clear and unambiguous plan in place to supervise and oversee her eating of the food that was prepared for her.”

He placed the level of harm by the company’s health and safety failings at the highest but he accepted it was not a deliberate act or “a flagrant disregard of the law.”

HC-One Ltd – a Darlington-based organisation – admitted insufficient care and supervision was provided to the resident.

Sheriff Frazer also placed their culpability level at medium and extended the court’s sympathies to Mrs Campbell’s surviving family.

Defending, Peter Gray KC said the company had at the time experienced a staffing crisis largely due to Covid and offered his client’s “deepest sympathies.”

He added that all civil claims had been settled quickly.

Mr Gray went on to confirm that 20 months prior to this tragedy, it had been been given a “good report” by the Care Quality Commission but subsequently “the failings were due to significant staffing challenges and by June, 2022 the staffing situation had deteriorated with four Covid outbreaks at the home.

“There was a thorough examination afterwards with a series of measures taken.”

Sheriff Frazer decided on a headline sentence of a £2.5m fine but reduced it for the company’s early plea and other legal factors.

He concluded: “My real concern is the record of previous convictions. Account must be taken of the fact that the company has four previous convictions in Scotland within the last six years for directly analogous offences, all of which have been dealt with by fines ranging from £200,000 to just over £800,000.”