Nursing home claims

Nursing homes exist to provide care and support to elderly people on a 24 hour basis. Most nursing homes are funded by the NHS and are expected to follow strict regulations concerning the care of their residents.

Many nursing homes are well run places with caring, professionally trained staff who work hard to meet the needs of their residents. They provide a range of services and activities for the residents with the emphasis on their happiness and wellbeing.

But there are cases of nursing home neglect or lack of care which result in severe physical and emotional distress for both the person concerned and their family.

Anyone who has a parent or relative in a nursing home expects them to be looked after with due care and attention. They expect them to be treated with patience, sympathy and compassion especially if they are suffering from some sort of dementia.

The nursing home has a responsibility to its residents. This means ensuring their safety whilst they are living there and to protect them from harm. If this fails or is inadequate then an injury or illness occurs.

Examples of errors and inadequate care

These are defined as a deviation from the accepted guidelines governing the care of nursing home residents. They include:

• Failure to provide sufficient food and liquid
• Over prescribing medication, e.g. sedatives
• Physical, psychological, verbal or sexual abuse
• Inappropriate and invasive procedures
• Administering the wrong type of medication
• Failure to treat pressure sores
• Financial abuse, e.g. theft
• Neglect, e.g. failure to ensure personal hygiene
• Rough handling e.g. when moving a resident to another location.

These are all distressing examples of abuse and neglect which should never be allowed to happen but sadly they do.

Impact of nursing home neglect

Discovering that your parent or relative has suffered neglect is an extremely upsetting experience. No-one likes to think of a member of their family being treated in an uncaring manner and finding out that this has been the case is both shocking and distressing.

Compensation cannot undo the injury or illness caused by the neglect or the pain and suffering but it can help to restore pride and self-dignity in the affected person. It can also help to ease any financial stress.

Making a claim for compensation for nursing home neglect

Find a personal injury lawyer or firm of solicitors who have many years of experience in dealing with these types of claims. This is a complex area to handle and requires a great deal of knowledge and understanding of the many issues involved.

Check that your lawyer or solicitor is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (www.apil.org.uk) or the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk).

They should handle your case with care and sensitivity and be dedicated to working on your behalf to ensure that you receive suitable recompense.

For more information about the claims process, visit our making a claim for compensation section.

Time limit for claiming compensation for nursing home neglect

Many personal injury claims have a deadline of 3 years from the date of the accident or illness. But this may be different in nursing home neglect cases.

Confirm the deadline for your compensation claim with your personal injury lawyer or solicitor.