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9 May 2005 - Mental Health NHS Trust
Prosecuted for Incompetency
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A Mental Health NHS Trust was prosecuted at the Old Bailey last
week for which a fine of £28,000 was imposed and ordered to pay £14,000 costs.
The case against the trust was brought before the court by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE), under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at
Work Act, following an incident where a psychiatric nurse was beaten to death by
a schyzophrenic patient in June 2003 at a South London Hospital.
A series of systematic failures leading to the fatality had been
highlighted by the prosecution, who said the tragedy was "waiting to happen."
The prosecution also commented:
"The protection afforded by the trust was seriously lacking
and well short of that which could be expected of a responsible employer in this
particular field."
The judge said the practices of the trust were:
"seriously unacceptable and incompetent."
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, every employer has a
duty "to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and
welfare of all his employees", which the trust had breached by not having
provided sufficient training in the handling of violent patients to the nurse.
Furthermore, no system was in place to check whether staff had received training
and no personal alarm had been provided to the nurse.
Article by Alexandra Johnston
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