Care home fined £500,000 over woman's death in bedroom fire

Carol Hughes was a resident at Arcadia Gardens home in Glasgow

A care home firm has been fined more than £500,000 after a resident of a Glasgow home died after a fire in her bedroom.

Carol Hughes, 54, was found by firefighters in her bed with an e-cigarette and lighter at Arcadia Gardens care home in Bridgeton on in March 2017.

Ms Hughes suffered burns and severe smoke inhalation and died in hospital.

Glasgow Sheriff Court was told a fire alarm in her room did not match the correct zone on a chart and the wrong area was evacuated. Operator HC-One Limited admitted a health and safety breach.

Ms Hughes, who had multiple sclerosis, had been a resident at the care home in since November 2015.

She was a regular smoker and the court heard that she began refusing to leave her bed on occasion.

Ms Hughes did not have her smokers care plan reviewed, which exposed her to a level of risk.

On the day of her death, an alarm was activated which stated there was a fire in a zone covering the kitchen of the care home, which was adjacent to her room.

The area was evacuated but was later found to contain no fire. Smoke was then discovered coming from Ms Hughes' room.

Police and the fire brigade investigate the blaze in March 2017

She was taken to hospital with her injuries and given palliative care until she passed away that evening.

The court was told Ms Hughes was not smoking before the fire took place.

A report found there was a "considerable likelihood" that Ms Hughes might smoke in bed and would have been unable to protect herself from a dropped match or lit cigarette.

Fiscal depute Saud Ul-Hassan added: "Had these risks been identified, they could have been mitigated appropriately and made sure that she was supervised while she smoked."

A review into the fire alarms also found that the zone chart used to identify the location of the activations was inaccurate.

'Tragic loss'

Peter Gray KC, defending, told the court: "Ms Hughes lost her life due to the failings of HC-One.

"I am told to offer my deepest sympathies for the family's tragic loss."

The advocate said that the company has since taken measures to make sure the incident does not happen again, such as a new fire alarm zone map and handheld radios for staff communication.

Fining the company £537,000, Sheriff Matthew Jackson KC stated: "This is a figure that will remind the company's directors and shareholders, the gravity of the offence.

"I must stress, this is not or can be a figure that represents the terrible loss of Carol Hughes' life."

The Darlington based company - whose turnover in September 2023 was £398m - has two previous convictions.

In 2019, Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court was told that a resident in a care home with Alzheimer's ingested a chlorine tablet which was among unattended cleaning items that had been delivered.

The firm was fined £270,000 for that incident.

HC-One sold Arcadia Gardens to another care provider in 2023.

A spokesperson said the firm extended its "deepest condolences" to the family of Ms Hughes.

They added: "It was important to us that lessons were learned from this tragic incident, and we have undertaken extensive reviews of our fire management protocols and safety systems across our homes.

"We have also since enhanced our care planning processes and coaching for our teams.

"We are clear that this incident should never have happened, and we hope that today’s decision can bring a sense of closure to Ms Hughes’ family.”