Isle of Man: Care home fined £46k after woman dies in fire

The court heard there were 'shortcomings' in fire safety training and procedures

A firm which runs an Isle of Man care home has been fined £46,000 for health and safety breaches after a 96-year-old died in a fire.

The court heard Elder Healthcare was not to blame for the death of Olive Renecle, who died in her sheltered apartment in Douglas in November 2019.

But Deemster Graeme Cook said "shortcomings" were found in fire safety training and procedures.

Elder Healthcare said fire safety training had since been updated.

An electrical fault caused a blaze at Ms Renecle's home on Fuchsia Lane which joined on to Elder Grange care home on 17 November 2019, the court heard.

Smoke and heat detectors were linked to the nurse call centre at the care home.

Elder Healthcare runs the home, and is required to give emergency assistance to the residents in sheltered accommodation on Fuchsia Lane and Fuchsia Court.

The court heard a smoke detector had triggered the call system but staff could not work out which flat the alarm related to due to problems with the documentation and contact lists.

Checks were made in the home but not in the sheltered flats 100m (0.6 miles) away, and the alarm was temporarily switched off and no-one contacted the fire service.

A neighbour called 999 after noticing smoke coming from the flat and firefighters did attend the scene.

Ms Renecle was taken to hospital but later died.

Elder Healthcare was fined £46,000 and ordered to pay a further £4,000 in prosecution costs with Deemster Cook saying the firm needed to be aware "this must never happen again".

The company said it had updated contact lists, training, and fire risk assessments had now been put in place.