A former Warrington nursing home company has been fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £19,283.52 in costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of fire safety regulations.
Care home provider Smallwood Homes Ltd, the former owner of Thelwall Grange Nursing Home business in Warrington, pleaded guilty to eight serious breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when the company appeared before Judge Roger Dutton at Chester Magistrates Court last Friday. (June 17)
Smallwood Homes Ltd pleaded guilty to eight offences. These included the lack of compartmentation, not having an adequate risk assessment in place, poor maintenance, failing to have a suitable fire evacuation procedure, no evacuation chairs for means of escape from the upper floors and no fire detection in the basement where the boiler was housed. Concerns were also raised regarding the adequacy of staff training.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service first served an enforcement notice on the property for fire safety breaches in February 2014.
Judge Dutton said: “You cannot be too careful, fire can very quickly take hold and have serious consequences and, ultimately, death.”
The judge also added that he accepted fully that the company had taken steps to help deal with issues, but that this wasn’t enough. He also took into account the fact that the company has since been sold and that Smallwood Homes Ltd no longer owns the Thelwall Grange Nursing Home business.
Simon Gibbins, Head of Protection at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service aims to help and support any business to operate safely. However we will take action when companies choose not to treat fire safety as a legitimate business requirement. We urge all companies to take their fire safety obligations seriously to avoid prosecution.”
Anyone who has concerns about fire safety should contact the Service.
The care home was taken over by new owners in April this year.
