Care home fined £20,000 over patient's cleaning fluid death

Tigh-Na-Muirn Ltd admitted health and safety failings in relation to Mr Fyfe's death

A care home has been fined £20,000 over the death of an Alzheimer's resident who drank cleaning fluid from an unlabelled bottle left in his room.

David Fyfe died from ammonia poisoning four days after drinking the substance at Tigh-Na-Muirn in Monifieth in 2020.

Tigh-Na-Muirn Ltd, the company which runs the home, admitted being responsible for the death of the 90-year-old by poisoning.

A lawyer for the family-run home said it expressed regret over the incident.

• Care home patient died after drinking cleaning fluid left in room

The company, which has 120 staff and 59 residents, admitted a number of health and safety failings which included leaving a bottle of ammonium-based liquid in Mr Fyfe's room.

The court heard Mr Fyfe, who had several health issues, had been confined to his room after contracting Covid.

A Covid resilience plan said the room's cleaning products were to be stored on top of the bathroom cabinet

Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown told Dundee Sheriff Court the cleaning sanitiser had been intentionally stored by staff on top of Mr Fyfe's en-suite bathroom cabinet.

She said: "Paramedics transferred Mr Fyfe to hospital, where he gradually deteriorated until his death.

"The primary cause of death was acute tracheobronchitis and pneumonia, resulting from the ingestion of ammonium-based cleaning product.

"It is not known why the bottle of Steri-Germ had no label. With the benefit of hindsight, Steri-Germ ought not to have been stored in an accessible place in Mr Fyfe's room."

The court heard that Mr Fyfe's health deteriorated after drinking the fluid on 27 May and he died on 31 May in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

'Sincere condolences'

A post-mortem examination revealed the primary cause of death resulted from the ingestion of the ammonia-based cleaning product.

Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said the death could have been prevented by the care home.

She added: "Their failure to adequately assess the risks posed to residents by the storage of cleaning sanitiser in their rooms had fatal consequences.

"This prosecution serves to highlight the need for all care homes to protect their residents and remind them they will be held accountable if they fail to do so."

A spokesperson for the home said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family.

"We have learned from this tragedy and taken all the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again."