Coroner concerned about care home windows after death

A coroner says care homes need better advice about window security after an 82-year-old man forced a locking mechanism and fell to his death

A coroner has raised concerns that care homes are not given enough information about window security after a man managed to force one open, and fell to his death.

Terrence Taylor died on 11 December 2020, aged 82.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner Keith Morton, KC, issued a prevention of future deaths report saying that while the windows at the home complied with British Standards, an elderly man was able to force the restrictor and open it.

He said unless action was taken to inform other care homes of the potential to do this, "there is a risk that future deaths could occur".

The coroner said Mr Taylor had absconded from a previous care home on a number of occasions via a fire exit and had been moved to another home.

"The windows had window restrictors which complied with British Standard BS EN 14351-1 and BS EN 13126-5," he wrote.

"These standards specify that window restrictors should be effective to withstand a static force of 350N for 60 seconds and restrict the window from opening more than 100mm."

An inquest jury concluded Mr Taylor forced a window restrictor, climbed out of a first floor room and fell to the ground, sustaining injuries from which he died.

In his report, Mr Morton wrote: "The evidence was clear. An 82-year-old man was able to apply sufficient force to detach the fixing which secured the window restrictor to the window frame. He was able to do so without the use of tools."

He raised concerns in his report about "the guidance provided to operators of residential care homes in respect of window restrictors and the standard they are required to meet".

"The current standards have been developed to prevent accidental falling from windows. They do not deal with deliberate attempts to defeat the restrictor, which may well be the situation encountered in residential care homes, as in fact occurred in this case," he wrote.

"This limitation is not known or understood by operators of residential care homes."

The coroner said research carried out by the Health and Safety Executive suggested that window restrictors in health and social care premises should be able to withstand forces very much greater than that of the British Standards.

Mr Morton addressed his concerns to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the British Standards Institute (BSI).

"Action is required to ensure operators of care homes are provided with reliable, up-to-date guidance and to ensure that the limitations of the British Standard are widely known and understood by operators of residential care homes," he said.

"Action is required to review the British Standard relating to window restrictors to consider whether some different standard or qualification to the existing standard is required in respect of residential care homes and/or deliberate acts to disable window restrictors."

A spokesperson for the DHSC told the BBC that "due to the pre-election period, we're unable to give a statement". However, they added that the department recognised the value of such reports and would respond "in due course".

CQC said: "We're aware of the coroner’s report into the sad death of Terrence Taylor and our condolences go out to his loved ones. We will review the report to determine whether there is any regulatory action we may need to take."

The BSI said together with "the relevant committees", it was "looking into this matter".