Cygnet Health Care fined £1.53m in prosecution over death of young woman
Cygnet Health Care Limited has been fined £1.53m after pleading guilty in a criminal prosecution over the death of a young woman using one of their services.
Cygnet Health Care pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to provide safe care and treatment contrary to Regulations 12 and 22 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 at one of their facilities, Cygnet Hospital Ealing. They acknowledged failings of:
- Providing a safe ward environment to reduce the risk of people being able to use a ligature
- Ensuring staff observed people intermittently in line with the company procedures
- Training staff to be able to resuscitate patients in an emergency
Cygnet has been fined £1.53m and ordered to pay £80,000 costs and £180 victim surcharge. This is the largest fine issued by a court to a provider of mental health services as a result of a prosecution brought by Care Quality Commission (CQC).
In November 2018 a young woman was admitted to a ward in Cygnet Hospital Ealing. In July 2019, the young woman was able to take her own life while resident on the ward. Cygnet Ealing were aware that she tried to harm herself in an almost identical way four months earlier, yet they failed to mitigate the known environmental risk she was exposed to.
CQC brought the prosecution as it believed that if Cygnet Health Care Limited had complied with its statutory obligations at Cygnet Hospital Ealing, she would not have been exposed to such a significant risk of harm.
Jane Ray, CQC’s deputy director of operations in London, said: ‘This is a tragic case and my thoughts are with this young woman’s family and others grieving for their loss following her death.
‘People, especially those at such a frightening, vulnerable time in their life, should be able to expect safe care and treatment, so it’s unacceptable that this young woman’s safety wasn’t well managed by Cygnet Hospital Ealing when she needed them the most. This is why I welcome their guilty plea.
‘It is also unacceptable that Cygnet Ealing failed to learn from earlier incidents, which could potentially have avoided this tragic outcome. The judge also concluded that what Cygnet said would happen in line with their policy on observations and what actually happened in practice, were not the same thing.
‘We know that the majority of people receive good care when they attend hospital, but if we find a provider has put people in its care at risk of harm, we take action to hold it to account and protect people in future.
‘I hope this prosecution reminds Cygnet Health Care Limited, and other health and social care organisations they must provide care in a safe environment that meets people’s needs and starts to provide this young woman’s family with small degree of closure.’
Image: Sasun Bughdaryan
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