JOANNE SOURBUTTS
DIED 20TH MAY 1994
From scalding whilst in the care of Sefton Council

Joanne was born on the 4th June 1968. She was a beautiful, happy, contented baby until she was 20 months old when she had her 'Trivax' Booster injection for whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria. After the injection we noticed a change in Joanne and she stopped talking. She was checked at the local health clinic and nursing staff told us she may have become 'lazy'. The GP thought she may be tongue tied and she had an operation on her tongue which made no difference. Joanne attended a ordinary nursery until she was five years old when a teacher suggested that we went to look at a special school. It was about this time that Joanne was assessed as being 'educationally subnormal'. Joanne continued at the special school until she was 19 years old and lived at home with us until she was 23 years old.

In December 1991, Joanne went to live at the Poplars Bungalow, Hart Street, Southport, a Sefton Council Residential Care home. Three other clients lived with Joanne and there was always two staff on duty in the day and one member of staff at night. All four clients were high dependency clients and required 24 hour care. Joanne needed everything doing for her, washing, dressing, etc. She required constant supervision as she would drink shampoo, bubble bath in fact anything that came in a bottle.

On May 5th 1994 we received a phone call to meet Denise Airey, Joannes' carer, at Southport and Formby District Hospital as Joanne had had a "little accident" My husband Richard and I went to the hospital not knowing how badly Joanne had been scalded. When we met Denise she said "It's not my fault, she got into a full bath". A nurse then told us that Joanne was very badly scalded and she was being transferred to Whiston Burns Hospital under police escort. She was in the burns ward for five days and then moved to Intensive Care where she was put on a life support machine. Joanne remained in Intensive Care for a further 10 days until she died on 20th May 1994, aged 25 years.

Joanne suffered from 40 per cent burns and the skin had peeled off her legs and feet. We were told by the staff at the home that 'Joanne had ran herself a bath and got in on her own'. We have never accepted this statement as we do not feel Joanne was capable of running herself a bath. Joanne had a mental age of 6 and in the 23 years she lived at home she had never ran a bath and certainly never got into a bath unaided.

Sefton Council carried out an inquiry into Joanne's death but the public and press were barred from a Social Services committee meeting when Nick Thompson made a statement admitting council liability. Unions and councilors were warned not to reveal the contents of the meeting. We were told we could not see the report into Joanne's death unless we promised not to talk to the press about it's contents. If we as parents couldn't see the report and the press were not allowed into the meeting how is the public to know the failings in the care system that led to Joanne's death. It appears that the people responsible have full protection while innocent people who have suffered from they're actions have to just accept whatever the authorities feel like telling us. Surely a government body that is funded by the tax payer should be answerable to the public? If such secrecy is allowed to carry on how can there ever be any improvements? We were constantly told that 'lessons would be learned from this tragedy' This appears to be a common phrase used by the authorities that means very little. Six years later the same mistakes and the same tragedies are still happening and the same statement regarding 'lessons to be learned' is still being given.

An Inquest into Joanne's death returned a verdict of Accident due to Lack of Care but still leaves a number of questions unanswered. We want to know why Joanne was left alone and who ran the bath - we don't believe she could have done this herself.

Geoffrey Metcalf, officer in charge at the Poplars, said he had been aware of hot water problems in the home since 1989. He said the temperature of the water could reach levels of 67 degrees centigrade compared to Government guide lines of a safe level of 43 degrees. Sefton Council admitted a faulty water temperature control should have been repaired more that three years previously and accepted liability. The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted Sefton Council and they were fined £18,000 for breaking the Health and Safety at work act.

If the staff at the home were aware of the problem of scalding water why was the bathroom not kept locked? We feel there was to much emphasis placed on the water heater and not enough emphasis on what really happened on the night Joanne was scalded. Following Joanne's death two managerial staff at Poplars were suspended, Geoffrey Metcalf, officer in charge and Sam Oliver, deputy officer in charge. They were later allowed to return to work.

Although there was a verdict of Lack of Care and Sefton Council admitted full responsibility, neither Denise Airey or Geoff Artles, the carers responsible for Joanne on the night she was scalded, or Sefton Council, have faced a criminal prosecution or been held accountable for Joanne's death. All my husband and I want is the TRUTH. We will never get over Joanne's death, but after six years to know the truth may help us a little.

Mrs Sandra Sourbutts.