NHS advocate blames care home owner for fatal fire
The owner of a care home in Scotland has been blamed for the deaths of 14 elderly residents, as he did not adhere to fire safety regulations.
The Herald newspaper reports that Thomas Balmer, who was co-owner of Rosepark Care Home when the incident took place in 2004, did not carry out correct drills and maintenance procedures.
In the Hamilton Sheriff Court, Gerry Coll, an advocate for NHS Lanarkshire, said that health and safety inspectors are not culpable for the fire, as they did their job.
According to the news provider, Mr Coll said that evidence suggests that the former owner of the care home did not follow on-video safety instructions which warned that they should call the fire brigade as soon as a fire alarm sounds.
"There is evidence that Mr Balmer countermanded the message of the video to call 999 immediately by instructing staff to check for a fire first," he said.
"This was the procedure followed by staff, but was corrected by two firefighters. However, the procedure did not change in response to this."
Hamilton Sheriff Court's chief sheriff will return his final decision on the matter in the coming days. The aims of the inquiry are to find out who was at fault and whether the fire could have been prevented.
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