Standards in Nursing Homes
Nursing and Care Homes provide essential services and placements for
elderly and vulnerable individuals within our communities.
The choice to move a loved one into a Home is often a very difficult decision.
Many factors need to be taken into account when choosing the correct
facility and it is important that you feel able to put your trust and faith into
the carers / staff.
Unfortunately, things can go wrong, such as your relative becoming ill or
being injured, and this can be devastating.
Elderly people are more at risk of falling than able bodied younger
individuals. If they do fall, the injuries can be severe. There is often a high
degree of supervision required from the staff at the nursing home to ensure
that the elderly person does not get up too quickly or try to get out of bed
when they are not strong enough and so on.
Once they are very frail, old people are often confined to their bed or are
otherwise largely immobile for most of the day. Special care then needs to
be taken to avoid pressure or bed sores. Other predictable issues which need
to be avoided include dehydration, malnutrition and medication errors.
Care Homes have a legal duty of care to their residents. If their neglect
causes injury, a claim for compensation can be made as well as a complaint.
If fees are being paid privately then there may be a contractual claim for
reimbursement of some of the fees.
In order to succeed in making a claim against a nursing or care home you
need to show two things. Firstly that the care given fell below what would
commonly be considered to be reasonable or in line with common practice.
Secondly it would have to be shown that injury or harm has been caused
directly as a result of that lapse in care. That is not always straightforward.
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