Fire doors were left open and staff were not trained in evacuation techniques in the nursing home where 14 ­elderly people died in a fire, a fatal incident inquiry has heard.

Questions were also raised over whether the fire alarm at Rosepark Care Home in Uddingston was frequently checked, and why gates leading to the home were locked, potentially delaying access for fire engines and ambulances.

The inquiry was hearing from Phyllis West, a staff nurse at Rosepark at the time of the fire in January 2004.

James Wolffe QC asked: “Even though there were blue stickers on the doors saying Fire Door Keep Shut, were there doors, through the use of magnetic mechanisms, still left open throughout the day?” “Yes,” said Ms West.

Training in evacuating ­residents from the ­building in the event of a fire was described by Ms West as “very limited”.

She said it could have taken as long as two hours for the four night-staff members to get everybody out.

Last week, Alison Cummings, another staff nurse who worked at the nursing home at the time, told the inquiry the home’s policy was to “check and see if it is a false alarm” rather than contact the fire brigade straight away.

Ms West said staff were under the impression they should not follow the advice of the fire safety training video and the staff fire action notice, which stated that the emergency services should be contacted immediately when the fire alarm sounded.

She said the accepted procedure was to send two staff to ­investigate first. The inquiry also heard how a “false alarm” had gone off less than a month before the fire, because of a fault.

Ms West, who was the nurse on duty at the time, described how she failed to alert the fire brigade because the janitor had told her he should investigate the fire first.

Further questions from Brian Lockhart, sheriff principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, centred on the prescribed action after members of staff returned from investigating the cause of a fire alarm.

“Would you phone the fire brigade, regardless of what the two attendants found?” he asked. “Yes,” said Ms West.

Later, however, she said she could not be sure as her answer now had the benefit of hindsight.

The doors of residents’ rooms were also frequently left open, the inquest heard.

Ms West said that if residents were agitated or in the latter stages of life, or if they asked for the door to be left open, staff would use a wedge to allow them to be “more easily observed”.

Most of those who died were in their ­eighties and nineties, with many suffering from ­dementia, vision problems and limited mobility.

The inquiry is expected to last between four and six months.