Clinical negligence compensation awarded to woman scalded in care home

Posted 04/02/2011

Clinical negligence compensation has been awarded to a woman who was left with 40 per cent burns to her body after being scalded in a care home.

Jeanette De Bono, now 28, was living at Eight Ash Court nursing home in Essex as a result of her genetic disorder Rett Syndrome when the incident occurred in August 2002.

Staff were attempting to bathe her and lowered her into the water, failing to notice that it was far too hot.

When Ms De Bono struggled, they mistook her distress for an epileptic fit. She consequently suffered terrible burns and needed intravenous pain relief. Although she has now mostly recovered, she has lost what little mobility she had and is now confined to a wheelchair.

Ms De Bono took legal action against Wellcare Nursing Homes and, at a High Court hearing this week, it agreed to pay an undisclosed sum in clinical negligence compensation which will allow her to buy mobility aids and cover care costs.

According to Rett UK, Rett Syndrome almost solely affects females and causes learning disabilities and often curvature of the spine. It is present from birth but mostly manifests itself from the age of one.

Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, who heads the clinical negligence team at Ashtons Legal, comments: “This is a story of total carelessness by those entrusted with the care of a vulnerable young woman.

“It is a shame that the case had to be resolved through legal proceedings rather than a very early admission and settlement.”