Southern Health NHS Trust Pleads Guilty Over 18 Year Olds Death

United KingdomScotland

The Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust plead guilty under s3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974, following the death of an 18 year-old in their care on 4 July 2013. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution against the Trust.

The Trust provides learning disability and specialist mental health services to patients in parts of Oxfordshire and Hampshire.

The patient had epilepsy and drowned in the bath while in the care of the Trust. This lead to the discovery that only 272 unexplained deaths cases of 722 were properly investigated by the Trust.

In August, a medical tribunal found that a doctor had failed to carry out risk assessments for the patient. The death was described as “entirely preventable”, by Julie Daws, the Trust’s interim chief executive.

The defendant is due to be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on 12 October 2017.