£15,000 settlement obtained for substandard treatment in a care home

Posted 02/04/2014

Julie Crossley, a medical injury specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained £15,000 for an elderly lady who was not looked after appropriately in a Suffolk care home. Mrs T went to the care home for rehabilitation following a hip fracture. During the three days following her arrival at the home she suffered two falls, one from her bed during the night and a second while using the bathroom without help; it is believed that these could have been avoided with appropriate risk assessments and care. There then followed a catalogue of errors in relation to medical assessment after the second fall which resulted in Mrs T suffering more pain and distress than should have been necessary.

Julie comments: “We are seeing an increase in the number of claims against care homes. This is rarely about the money, but relatives see that their elderly loved ones have not been cared for appropriately and want to ensure that the standards are improved so other families do not suffer in the same way.  It is important that as a nation we get this right; we need to be able to have confidence that our elderly will be cared for appropriately and at the moment this is not always the case.”