Williams & Spenceley Limited

Private and voluntary organisations · Private limited company

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First report 10 Jul 2025•Latest report 10 Jul 2025

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Reports naming this recipient by issue year.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Reports: 1
Published responses: 100%
Concerns addressed: 2
Stated actions: 3

Concerns and recipient responses

Statements from Williams & Spenceley Limited linked to the concerns in each report. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

10 Jul2025
County Durham and Darlington
Concerns raised4
1. Failure to put recommended falls prevention equipment in place
2. Reluctance to provide adequate resources for falls prevention equipment
3. Failure to apply for DoLS assessments for residents lacking mental capacity
1. Failure to pass on Community Falls Service recommendations to family and social services
Actions described in response 1
1. Action
  Provide 12 working sensor mats and fall-detection equipment for service users.
Respondent positions 2
1. Position
  The report’s claim that sensor mats were not purchased or available is disputed as inaccurate.
  Disputes the concern
1. Position
  Existing fall sensors and an urgent calling system were considered sufficient to protect service users.
  Existing arrangements considered sufficient
AI-generated summary

Patricia Heaviside · Prevention of Future Deaths report

This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

Report summary

Patricia Heaviside, a resident of Howlish Hall Care Home, suffered an unwitnessed fall on 4 October 2024, fractured her left hip, and died on 26 December 2024 as a consequence of the fracture. Concerns included the failure to implement recommended falls-prevention equipment, failures to share relevant information with family and social services, and apparent reluctance to provide adequate resources for falls prevention. The report also raised concerns that no DoLS assessment application appeared to have been made despite her lack of mental capacity and inability to keep herself safe.

Read the report on judiciary.uk
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Williams & Spenceley Limited; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to put recommended falls prevention equipment in place
Wider context from the report
“(1) Despite recommendations for falls prevention equipment being made by the Community Falls Service in August 2023, no falls prevention equipment was put in place by the time of the Deceased’s fall in fall October 2024 (2) Despite the social worker expressing concern about the lack of falls prevention equipment on 27 September 2024, no falls equipment was put in place prior to the Deceased’s fall on 4 October 2024. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Williams & Spenceley Limited; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Reluctance to provide adequate resources for falls prevention equipment
Wider context from the report
“(4) On 5 August 2024 (following a fall, but before the more significant fall on 4 October 2024), the Deceased’s family were told by the Deputy Manager of Howlish Hall that the owner of Howlish Hall “probably wouldn’t want to pay for a sensor mat”. (5) I received evidence that, subsequent to the Deceased’s death, there had been a reluctance on the part of ████████ (who was believed to be the owner of Howlish Hall Care Home) to provide adequate resources for falls prevention equipment. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Williams & Spenceley Limited; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to apply for DoLS assessments for residents lacking mental capacity
Wider context from the report
“(6) Despite it being recognised that the Deceased lacked mental capacity to make decisions about where she lived and was unable to keep herself safe, it appears that the home did not make any application for a DoLS assessment for the Deceased. Indeed I received evidence that when a new home manager was appointed at Howlish Hall in January 2025 none of the residents were subject to a DoLS, despite a large number of the residents lacking mental capacity. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Williams & Spenceley Limited; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to pass on Community Falls Service recommendations to family and social services
Wider context from the report
“(3) Information about the Community Falls Service recommendations was not passed on to the family, or to social services. ”
Open source report
Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation
Provide 12 working sensor mats and fall-detection equipment for service users.

Verbatim wording from the response
“I hereby enclose testimonies from our ████████ ████████ that the building had 12 working sensor mats to prevent falls as opposed to what stated. Moreover, the ████████ has withdrawn her first statement and stated she was mistaken and above this, we are aware that ████████ has tempered with the sensors.”

Source location
Response from Howlish Hall Care Home
Page 1 · response
Published 17 July 2025
Open published response
Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation
The report’s claim that sensor mats were not purchased or available is disputed as inaccurate.

Verbatim wording from the response
“I hereby enclose testimonies from our ████████ ████████ that the building had 12 working sensor mats to prevent falls as opposed to what stated. Moreover, the ████████ has withdrawn her first statement and stated she was mistaken and above this, we are aware that ████████ has tempered with the sensors.”

Source location
Response from Howlish Hall Care Home
Page 1 · response
Published 17 July 2025
Open published response
Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation
Existing fall sensors and an urgent calling system were considered sufficient to protect service users.

Verbatim wording from the response
“I hereby enclose testimonies from our ████████ ████████ that the building had 12 working sensor mats to prevent falls as opposed to what stated. Moreover, the ████████ has withdrawn her first statement and stated she was mistaken and above this, we are aware that ████████ has tempered with the sensors.”

Source location
Response from Howlish Hall Care Home
Page 1 · response
Published 17 July 2025
Open published response

Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Concerns raised4

Failure to put recommended falls prevention equipment in place

Reluctance to provide adequate resources for falls prevention equipment

Failure to apply for DoLS assessments for residents lacking mental capacity

Failure to pass on Community Falls Service recommendations to family and social services

Actions described in response An action is something this recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1

Respondent positions A position is what this recipient says about the concern when it does not describe a specific action.2

Actions described in response 1

Respondent positions 2