Elderly Neglect: Negligence
When a hospital or a nursing home falls below a standard of reasonable care in its treatment or services for an elderly person’s health, safety, or welfare and the elderly person suffers harm, the care provider may be Negligent, leading to the victim being able to claim compensation.
How Do I Prove My Case?
It is necessary to show that the hospital or nursing home’s treatment or services have fallen below a reasonable standard of care and that has caused, or materially contributed to the elderly person’s harm. A claim can only proceed if the allegation of Negligence is supported by expert evidence.
Examples of hospital or nursing home negligence include:
- Falls
- Bedsores
- Lack of Proper Care
- Malnutrition
- Dehydration
- Medication Errors
- Infections/Sepsis
What Can I Claim For?
The normal remedy is to bring a claim against the hospital or nursing home and claim compensation. The claim for damages may be for pain, suffering and continuing disability and other expenses directly attributable to the Negligence e.g. cost of treatment or increased care fees.
How Much Will It Cost?
We will assess the prospects of winning your case and decide if we are able to offer you funding on a ConditionalFee Agreement(‘No win No fee’). If the claim is unsuccessful we will not be paid and you will not be liable for the costs of any other party, which will be borne by the other party or paid under an insurance policy which we will arrange on your behalf.
What Is Neglect?
Neglect constitutes more than half of all reported cases of Elder Abuse. This includes the Negligent failures of a carer or responsible person to provide adequate food, water, shelter, clothing, medical or dental care, personal hygiene and a safe living environment; or refusing to permit others to provide appropriate care.
Neglect can occur anywhere:
- A person’s own home
- Residential care
- A carer’s home
- Day care centre
- A nursing home
- Hospital
We handle all types of cases where hospital or nursing home Negligence has had a detrimental effect on an Elderly person’s health, including:
- Negligence
- Falls
- Bedsores
- Lack of proper care
- Malnutrition
- Dehydration
- Medication errors
- Infections/sepsis
Other forms of Elder Abuse include:-
- Physical abuse
- Psychological abuse
- Financial abuse
If you, a member of your family or a friend has suffered harm as a result of Negligence, contact our specialist team who will deal with your query in a friendly and supportive way. We always promise to advise about legal costs at the outset.
Elderly Neglect: Bedsores
Bedsores (also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers) are very painful and can be serious. They are usually the result of Negligent care and most commonly affect elderly patients.
But Bedsores can affect anyone who has been immobilised for a period of time, perhaps after surgery or after receiving an epidural in childbirth. They result from restriction of the blood supply to the small vessels in the areas where weight is resting, leading to death of tissue and ulcers.
With advances in technology and basic nursing care, such as pressure relieving mattresses and a proper system for regularly turning the patient, the vast majority of such injuries can and should be avoided.
Because of our expertise in this type of case, we have set up a unit within our Clinical Negligence department with specialist lawyers experienced in these claims who can work with you to recover the compensation you deserve.
Many Pressure Sores cases settle for between £10-£20,000, but in more severe cases, compensation of over £100,000 has been awarded.
Elderly Neglect: Dehydration
An Elderly person can become Dehydrated when they are not given sufficient fluids. At this point, other serious medical conditions and illnesses are quite possible. Severe Dehydration can lead to serious illness or even death.
The most common signs of dehydration in the Elderly are thirst (although some Elderly have decreased sense of thirst), confusion, irritability and skin problems.
It is the responsibility of a carer to ensure the Elderly person is provided with sufficient fluids to maintain proper Hydration and health. They should also be given any help or encouragement needed to drink, unless a doctor has ordered otherwise.
Jackson Lees Solicitors can offer the experience and skill necessary to advise you on the options available where a carer has failed to prevent and treat Dehydration.
Elderly Neglect: Falls
Common injuries from falling include fractures of the hip or forearm. Hip fractures in particular carry high morbidity (health problems related to a disease or condition) because of prolonged immobility, surgical risks and functional disability.
The Elderly are also exposed to other complications such as hypothermia, dehydration, bronchial pneumonia and pressure damage to the skin, where they are unable to get up once they have fallen.
To help prevent Falls and fractures, a responsible carer should carry out ongoing risk assessments to identify risk factors such as impaired vision, problems with balance, difficulty with walking, osteoporosis, multiple medications and whether the elderly person has a history of falls.
We have an experienced team of lawyers who can advise on the legal options available where there has been a failure to prevent the risk of Falls or a failure to have appropriate plans in place to prevent falls from occurring.
Elderly Neglect: Infection
Elderly people are much more susceptible to Injury and Infection. In many cases, Infection is preventable, and, even when an Infection is unavoidable, the Infection can remain in-check and the Elderly person can recover quickly with proper medical treatment.
If an Infection is left untreated it will spread and an inflammatory response will occur throughout the body’s blood system, known as ‘sepsis’. If sepsis becomes severe enough where blood can no longer deliver oxygen and nutrients to the body’s organs, septic shock will set in and cause multiple organ failure and death.
Carers must ensure that an effective Infection control regime is in place to protect the health and safety of the elderly against the development and transmission of disease and infection.
Our team of specialised lawyers are experienced in dealing with cases of unaddressed Infections and sepsis and achieving the best possible results.
Elderly Neglect: Duty of Care
Elderly persons in residential care facilities are, for the most part, dependent on others for basic necessities such as food, shelter, and medical treatment. If all or some of those basic needs are not met this can be physically harmful or dangerous.
Proper care is also vital to keep a resident’s Mental Health in balance. If an Elderly person in residential care feels that his or her basic needs are not being met, he or she can become depressed, withdrawn, or even feel abandoned. This can lead to a rapid decline in his or her overall health.
Failing to provide these services to a residential Elderly person constitutes a lack of proper care for that residential Elderly person. It is also considered to be a form of Elder Abuse.
Jackson Lees Solicitors has a specialised team of lawyers who can advise you on bringing a care provider to account, if a nursing home or care facility has failed to properly care for you or a loved one.
Elderly Neglect: Malnutrition
Malnutrition in the Elderly is a major concern because it can cause adverse outcomes.
Two of the most obvious signs of malnutrition are loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss. Other signs include dull and dry hair, conjunctival dryness, receding gums, mental confusion, sensory loss and motor weakness.
If a responsible carer fails to take care of these areas, it can have an impact on an Elderly person’s morbidity, mortality, length of stay in hospital, functional disabilities and physical complications.
Nutrition screening should form an essential part of routine for those caring for the elderly to assist them in quantifying and qualifying the incidence of malnutrition and/or risk of malnutrition.
Our team of specialised lawyers understand the Duty of Care owed by carers to prevent and treat malnutrition of the elderly. We can advise you on the options available to you.
Elderly Neglect: Medication Errors
It is a known fact that the older you get, the more medications you are likely to need. Many Elderly people in nursing homes or care facilities depend on medicines to treat illness and maintain their health.
Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to prescription or medical errors which can affect their health and safety.
A care facility must ensure that an Elderly person is not given medication in error. A medication error is a discrepancy between the care facility’s actions and either a doctor’s treatment, manufacturer’s specifications, or accepted professional medical standards.
Elder Abuse may also occur if the carer refuses to give the Elderly person their necessary medications or fails to monitor their medications. It may also result in significant harm or even death. This also applies if an Elderly person is given unnecessary medications
Our team of specialised lawyers are experienced in dealing with cases where medication or prescription errors have occurred and we can advise on the legal options available to you.