NHS trust pleads guilty after patient drowns

An NHS trust has said it is “truly sorry” about an epileptic teenager who drowned in a bath while in its care, after it admitted failings that led to his death.

Connor Sparrowhawk, 18, who had learning difficulties, was found submerged in water at Slade House, an NHS care and assessment unit in Oxford, in July 2013.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which ran the unit, pleaded guilty at Banbury magistrates’ court to breaching health and safety law.

The trust will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Oct 12.