Carer not told of pool risk before death - inquest

Michael Parker was on a supported holiday when he died

A care home boss should have told staff not to jump in a pool before a man with Down's syndrome died on holiday, an inquest heard.

Michael Parker, 43, died on 12 June 2023 after his carer "landed on him" in a swimming pool while he was on a supported holiday in Tarragona, Spain.

The inquest, which concluded on Friday, confirmed Mr Parker's cause of death was acute respiratory failure following a spinal cord injury.

"This was caused when a carer collided with Mr Parker in a hotel swimming pool," the coroner added.

Mr Parker was on holiday with residents from The Grange care home in Bookham, Surrey, where he lived.

At an inquest into his death, assistant coroner Krestina Hayes found the trip leader did not warn staff before or during the holiday that they and the clients were not allowed to jump into the hotel pool.

Support worker Harry Beckwith told Surrey Coroner's Court that the day before the incident, members of the group – including himself and Mr Parker – were jumping into the pool and no-one had told them it was not allowed.

Mrs Hayes said the rule about the pool was not part of the risk assessment and the assessment was not checked by The Grange health and safety lead.

A dynamic risk assessment was carried out at the pool by the trip leader but the support worker involved in the accident had not been told about the results, Mrs Hayes found.

The coroner said Mr Parker jumped into the swimming pool the day before the accident and was told it was not allowed.

However, the leader did not tell the carer, who was involved in the accident, that Mr Parker had jumped in, Mrs Hayes said.

She found the leader failed to remind carers that no-one on the trip was allowed to jump in.

Senior support worker Joanna Henderson said she asked Mr Parker not to jump into the pool when she saw him doing so on 10 June.

The Grange has been contacted for comment.

Additional reporting from PA Media.