You may have had to make the difficult decision to place a member of your family into a care home. You would expect that appropriate care would be provided but sadly that is not sometimes the case. Abuse of our elderly relatives whilst not endemic appears to be on the increase, but sometimes injury can be caused by negligence on the part of the care home staff or contractors.

Care homes include residential homes, nursing homes and day centres.

When a nursing or care home or day centre or one of its employees is negligent and a resident gets hurt or sick as a result, then a claim for compensation could be made.

Types of Care Home negligence

The ways in which a care home could be found to be negligent include:

• Failure to provide food or water leading to dehydration and malnutrition.
• Failure to provide appropriate lifting aids leading to injury on the part of the resident.
• Failure to provide appropriate medication or give medical care when it is obvious it is required.
• Allowing a resident to develop pressure sores or pressure ulcers or failing to treat pre existing pressure sores. Pressure sores can be very disabling and painful.
• Allowing a resident to fall causing fractures, head and back injuries. Falls can be particularly serious in a vulnerable elderly resident. Risk assessments should have been made and appropriate equipment and or training for staff put in place.
• Careless handling whilst moving a resident around or failure to use appropriate mobility aids or failing to supervise.
• Medication and prescription errors in particular can be very serious for a frail or disabled person.

Obviously accidents can and do happen in residential care homes and not all of them will be as a result of negligence. Nevertheless, some accidents are caused because of some carelessness on the part of the home. Appropriate equipment may not be provided or maintained or there may be serious understaffing problems which have been a direct cause of the accident.

Compensation for Care Home Neglect

In the circumstances where there has been a failure on the part of the home and the resident has been injured as a result, it may be possible to pursue a compensation claim.

Compensation for the injuries concerned can include the costs of appropriate home care or private care whilst recovery is made, the costs of treatment and of course for the injury concerned.

Mental Capacity

It is often the case that the injured party does not have the mental capacity to pursue a claim and in those situations another party perhaps under a power of attorney or the official solicitor would pursue the claim. These are specialist areas of law and you need to seek specialist legal advice.

Time Limits

Claims have to be made within three years of the alleged act or omission and you should always seek specialist legal advice.

Making a Care Home Negligence Compensation Claim

There have been many reported cases in the press over recent months and if you believe that a loved one has been the victim of negligence whilst in residential care, particularly if they have been injured as a direct result of what you believe to be incorrect medical treatment, then you may be able to help them to pursue a claim for compensation. You should therefore ensure that you have a specialist solicitor acting on their behalf.