Inquest told of lack of bath training

6:35pm Friday 21st November 2008

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Staff who helped lower a disabled teenager into a scalding bath at an Oxford support home were not trained to use the appliance, an inquest heard yesterday.

Yelena Hasselberg-Langley, 18, died in hospital four days after sustaining severe burns on her lower body at the Lifeways Community Care centre in Owens Way, Temple Cowley.

The teenager, who had cerebral palsy, was taking medication which made her skin more sensitive to heat, Oxford Coroner’s Court was told.

Support workers Anna Majchrowska, from Poland, and Pamela Booker, of Blackbird Leys, Oxford, were tending to Ms Hasselberg-Langley at the time of the incident in August 2007.

Ms Booker told the court she had received “no particular training on how to use the bath” and had refused to operate it as a result.

The court was told on Thursday the water temperature could have reached 66.8C, above the maximum 44C which was supposed to have been built into the bath’s thermostat.

The inquest heard Ms Majchrowska had run the bath and operated a hoist to lower Ms Hasselberg-Langley into the water. Ms Booker said she had prepared her for the bath and then supported her as the hoist was lowered.

She said: “As I was lowering Yelena into the water I was positioning her to sit up. It was only then that my elbow hit the water and I realised it was too hot. We knew the condition of Yelena’s skin so we knew it would be far too hot.

“I screamed for Anna to pull her up. She (Ms Hasselberg-Langley) had gone rigid and then she started making a screaming noise.”

Ms Majchrowska was asked by the coroner if she had been told how to use the bath. Through an interpreter, she replied: “No, nobody gave me any instruction.”

She said she had tested the water temperature using her hand inside a latex glove.

Fellow support worker Asha Hussein, from Blackbird Leys — who was not working on the day of the incident — told the court she also had not been trained to use the bath. She said she thought a silver knob used to control the water temperature was “decoration”.

All three workers told the inquest they had not seen a thermometer anywhere in the home before the incident.

Anthony McAllister, the Lifeways Community Care area manager responsible for the home at the time, said he did not expect his support workers to be trained to use the bath as it was “not necessary”.

When asked if “he at any time had been concerned about the temperature”, he replied: “No.”

He said he tested the water after the incident, adding: “I couldn’t bathe in it, it would be too hot.”

The coroner heard the purpose-built home, which was constructed by Willmott Dixon/Inspace, was owned by Catalyst Housing and the services were provided by Lifeways after winning a tender from Oxfordshire County Council.

The inquest continues.