Care home boss jailed for gross negligence after 4st woman dies

THE director of a care home has been jailed for gross negligence after being found guilty of causing the death of a pensioner whose weight dropped to just four stone.

Ivy Atkin, 86, died shortly after being “rescued” from Autumn Grange care home in Nottingham in 2012.

Yousaf Khan, 47, the director of Sherwood Rise, the care home’s owner, admitted manslaughter by gross negligence at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday and was jailed for three years and two months. Khan, of Mapperley Park, Nottingham, also admitted a health and safety offence.

It is the first corporate manslaughter conviction in England relating to a care home. A 19-year-old carer alerted authorities to the inadequate conditions at the care home after she had worked there for three days.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission discovered mattresses were sodden with urine, there were no hot water or incontinence pads, and residents were wearing each other’s clothing, because the laundry system was disorganised.

Det Supt Rob Griffin said Sherwood Rise had “effectively admitted defeat”.

Ms Atkin, who had been in the home for 48 days, was found in a bed upstairs at less than half her normal body weight. “When she was rescued from the home, she weighed less than four stone,” said Det Supt Griffin. “She was emaciated and dehydrated and she had the most horrific pressure sore on her lower back, which was symptomatic of there being no pressure sore management in that home whatsoever. The pathologist was of the view that the pressure sore contributed to Ivy’s death.”

She died two weeks later in another care home. The CQC closed Autumn Grange in November 2012, forcing 28 residents to be rehoused.

Ms Atkin’s family said: “We believe Ivy’s life was shortened by the terrible care she received at Autumn Grange which resulted in her suffering a most undignified end to her life.”

Sherwood Rise was fined £300,000 plus £41,568.63 in costs. Mohammed Rahamatullah Khan, 39, of Mapperley Park, Nottingham, a manager of Sherwood Rise, admitted a health and safety offence and was jailed for a year, suspended for two years.