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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned hospitals and other care providers that they have a duty to ensure the safety of their patients, especially from the dangers of open windows. The warning follows HSE’s prosecution of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust after a patient was injured when he climbed out of a window.
The Trust pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1) b of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 at Trafford Magistrates Court on 22 November 2007 and was fined £5000 and ordered to pay £1965.58 costs
Between 28-31 October 2006, a male patient was admitted onto a first floor ward at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, for treatment for alcohol use. He opened an unsecured window, climbed onto the sill and dropped to the ground, fracturing his ankle.
HSE Inspector Thomas Merry said: “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. They had no system in place to ensure that, where fitted, window restrictors were properly applied or in use.
“This is a well known risk in the care sector with a number of prosecutions being taken every year in relation to people falling from windows. Hospitals deliver important services to some of the most vulnerable members of society. This makes it essential that effective assessment of the risks to health and safety are undertaken in order to ensure the necessary preventive measures are put in place.”
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