Review Critical Of Safety Standards At Site

Residential care home providers need to learn lessons from an inquiry which has raised serious concerns raised about fire safety at a site where 14 people died, an expert at Irwin Mitchell has demanded.

A review into the tragic blaze at Rosepark care home in Lanarkshire in 2004, which also left four people injured, has concluded that the safety plans in place were seriously defective.

It was also revealed that some or all of the deaths could have been prevented if better measures were put in place, as a series of problems including a lack of training for staff and a lack of fire dampeners were highlighted in the investigation.

Irwin Mitchell represents the families of a number of who have been seriously or fatally injured due to safety failings at residential and nursing homes.

Elaine Russell, an injury specialist based at the law firm’s Glasgow office, said the answers provided by the inquiry need to be seriously consider by all authorities involved in the provision of residential care.

“The details revealed as a result of this investigation have demonstrated the clear need for concise and structure fire safety plans which place the wellbeing of care home residents at the forefront,” she outlined.

“It is massively concerning to see that the measures at Rosepark have deemed as unsuitable, particularly when the conclusion has been made that lives could have been saved with better standards.

“I hope that lessons can be learnt from the serious failings highlighting in this case which will ensure that the same mistakes are not made elsewhere in the future.

“Staff working at care homes need the right training and the correct standards in place in order to ensure they can look after people to the best of their abilities.”