THE secretary of a care home association today claimed the owners of the home where tragic Jessie Hall fell out of a window are being made "scapegoats".

Rod Wilkins, secretary of the Blackburn with Darwen Care Homes Group, has hit out at the organisation responsible for monitoring care homes, the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC), after the death of 81-year-old Jessie Hall.

Mr Wilkins said the NCSC had made a scapegoat of the owners of Longfield Home for the Elderly in Preston New Road, Blackburn, who are facing a criminal prosecution after Mrs Hall fell out of a window on April 16, 2003, and died a day later.

An inquest jury decided that Mrs Hall's death was accidental, to which neglect contributed. Police have confirmed that a provisional decision to carry-out a prosecution, in partnership with health and safety officers, has been made over the home's failure to comply to health and safety laws.

At the time of Mrs Hall's accident the window she fell out of did not have restrictions on how far it could open, the inquest heard.

But Mr Wilkins claimed that the NCSC carried out inspections in the months prior to the accident and did not point out any irregularities with the window to the care home owners.

Mr Wilkins said: "Once again we have an unfortunate situation occurring in a care home in which the easy target of the home's owner is used as a scapegoat.

"This is an organisation with limitless resources whose statement of purpose clearly states that it is their obligation 'to ensure the safety of residents in care homes'.

"But why bother fulfilling this promise when you can just hide behind a 'no blame culture' and you have a ready-made scapegoat in the provider?"

He added: "An accident which is judged to be caused by negligence should have blame apportioned but, if justice is to be fair, all those responsible should be brought to account." A spokesman for the NCSC said: "The people responsible for what goes on in a care home are the people running that care home. We are restricted to two inspections a year for each care home, we are not in there 24 hours a day.

"To blame the NCSC for what goes on in a care home is a bit like blaming the police for crime.

"We are there as a safety net."

He said it would be inappropriate to comment on NCSC inspections prior to the accident at this time.

The family of Mrs Hall this week said the verdict of the jury was the right one.

However, a relative of a resident in Longfield today defended the care home.

Bernard Furey, of Scotland Bank Terrace, Livesey, whose wife Jessie, 88, suffers from Alzheimer's disease and has lived in the home for 16 months, said: "In all the time I have been going there the care has been spot-on. I am satisfied she is being cared for well."