Negligence in Nursing Homes
When a nursing home falls below a standard of reasonable care in its treatment or services for its residents health, safety or welfare and the resident suffers injury, the facility may be negligent.
It is necessary to show that the nursing home's services have fallen below a reasonable standard of care and that has caused the resident's injury"
The Possible Remedies:- The normal remedy in the UK is to seek financial compensation from a court. This is on the basis that as a claimant it has been possible to show that there was a specific act of negligence (examples are given below) and that negligence has caused injury.
Compensation is generally calculated by reference to existing case law. This is to quantify a claimant's injury. Other expenses which can be proven to be directly attributable to the incident complained of can also be sought, i.e. the cost of treatment or increased care fees.
Some examples of nursing home negligence include:
- Failure to provide food or water or failure to prevent malnutrition or dehydration
- Failure to assist in personal hygiene
- Failure to provide safe, clean and decent living conditions
- Failure to provide adequate treatment and services for incontinent residents
- Failure to provide appropriate supervision and assistive devices to prevent accidents.
- Failure to provide adequate medical care and acquire and dispense proper medications, as well as failure to ensure that residents are free from serious medication errors.
- Failure to prevent a resident from developing pressure sores; or if a resident already has pressure sores, failure to provide proper treatment to promote healing.
Contact us if you feel that a loved one has suffered as a result of abuse in a nursing home. All initial consultations are free
