Elder Healthcare has released a statement regarding the circumstances of its recent £46,600 fine for health and safety breaches, after a 96-year-old woman died in a fire in a sheltered accommodation block.

The company said that there was ‘no connection’ between the 2019 death of Olive Renecle in a ‘privately rented’ property in Fuchsia Lane, Douglas, and the charge of failing to fulfil its health and safety duties.

Its staff were responsible for providing emergency assistance for residents in the sheltered accommodation.

When alerted that a smoke detector had been set off in one of its flats, the staff at the adjacent Elder Grange Care Home switched it off remotely and did not ring 999.

An investigation concluded that staff had not been given training on procedures for an emergency alarm in the adjacent flats, or told what to do if the source of an alarm could not be identified.

Elder Healthcare stressed that ‘Deemster Graeme Cook began his sentencing by confirming there was no medical evidence to suggest the actions of the defendant [Elder Healthcare] caused the death of Mrs Renecle’.

It added: ‘The court also heard fire doors in the flat were pinned back, plug sockets overloaded and that the most likely cause of the fire was an electric heater which had been left on – none of which could be attributed to Elder Healthcare.’

The statement continued: ‘It was also acknowledged the defendant had carried out fire risk assessments and fire training but there was a shortcoming in the assessment of potential risk in the “emergency services” provided to owners/occupants of adjacent sheltered accommodation.

‘The court was told the company had passed all inspections and assessments of risk processes by third parties over many years and had relied upon such.’

David Killip, chief executive of Elder Healthcare (IoM) Limited, said: ‘The directors and staff of Elder Healthcare would again wish to express their deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.’