A Sudbury care home has been fined £14,000 after a resident suffered a broken thigh bone while being pushed in a wheelchair by a member of staff.

The Red House Welfare and Housing Society, based in Red House Lane, was sentenced at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

The prosecution was brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after the provider’s failure to manage known risks affecting the care of a woman at its home.

This follows a series of incidents where the woman concerned – who experienced mobility issues and suffered from confusion and agitation – had repeated difficulties using a wheelchair.

On several occasions, the woman's foot fell from the wheelchair’s footplate while it was being pushed and became caught underneath.

On March 12, 2019, the woman's foot came off the plate while she was being pushed into the home's dining room by a member of staff.

The carer noticed resistance and found the woman’s foot caught underneath.

They replaced it and continued the journey, but the resident subsequently reported pain before her knee was found to be swollen.

Staff called a GP who referred her to hospital, where a fracture to her thigh bone and damage to her knee joint was diagnosed.

The woman had a lengthy stay in hospital before she was discharged to a different service and had her leg in a cast for 16 weeks.

Had the Red House Welfare and Housing Society taken reasonable steps to manage this known risk, the incident where she came to harm could have been avoided, the CQC said.

In addition to the fine, the Red House Welfare and Housing Society was ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge and £11,000 in costs to CQC.

Louise Broddle, CQC head of inspection for adult social care, said: "People receiving regulated care and treatment have the right to expect known risks to their safety will be appropriately managed, so the Red House Welfare and Housing Society’s failure to ensure it adequately responded to this resident’s needs is unacceptable. 

"If it had used the information it had, it could have implemented measures that could have meant this resident may not have sustained an injury.

"Its failure to respond adequately to known risks associated with her care exposed her to a significant risk of avoidable harm."