A healthcare provider has today been fined £300,000 for its failings following the death of 14-year-old patient. On 12 November 2012, the patient was found with a ligature around her neck in her room. The 14-year-old was taken to hospital but had suffered irreparable brain damage and failure of multiple organs, so a decision was taken to withdraw life support. She was sadly pronounced dead the following day, on 13 November.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which began in 2016 following the coroner’s inquest, found Priory Healthcare Ltd had failed to identify or put in place control measures that would have better managed ligature risks. Priory Healthcare Ltd of Hammersmith Road, London pleaded guilty to a breach under Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company has been fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £65,801.38.
