A WARNING was issued over the suitability of some cot side frames applied to beds to prevent people falling out after a fatal accident at a County Durham care home, a court was told yesterday.

The Medical Devices Agency (MDA) issued the advice following inquiries into the death of 80-year-old Doreen Stobbs, at South Church Care Home, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

Durham magistrates heard yesterday that agency investigators also looked into the circumstances of two similar fatalities at other homes in 1997.

A similar type of frame was involved in at least one of those incidents.

Mrs Stobbs, a dementia sufferer, was found slumped with her head trapped between bars on the cot side placed to prevent her falling out of bed.

She died from asphyxiation, having choked on the bars of the frame, in May 2002.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is seeking to prosecute the home's owners at the time, South Church Care Limited, which denies a single charge of failing to take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of someone in its care.

New owners have since taken over the home.

Magistrates heard that staff were given no specific training about the use of cot sides, although there was an advisory poster issued by the MDA, on a coffee room wall at the home.

Andrew Marsden, for the MDA, told the court that since a device alert was issued, last year, 40 of a similar type of cot side device had been scrapped or removed from homes.

The court heard the minimum recommended distance between rails on such frames is 120mm, while the gap on the cot side through which Mrs Stobbs' head became trapped was 127 to 130mm.

HSE inspector Ruth Bolton, who previously inspected the home, said she had not seen the cot sides being used prior to the accident, but, on subsequent examination, they appeared "in a worn condition".

The hearing continues.