In the News: Fall after fall - care home accused of neglect.

The BBC have reported that the family of an elderly lady who suffered from neglect at a care home over the last year of her life have called for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to carry out a review of the care home concerned. Despite numerous emails asking Social Services to intervene, conditions at the care home did not improve and the neglect continued up until her death.

Unfortunately, she suffered from a broken hip from repeated falls. The family were only made aware of 12 falls by the care home.  After accessing their mother’s medical records, they found that she had actually had 32 falls during this period.

One in five care homes across England have been rated as ‘requiring improvement’ or ‘inadequate’. The CQC found that more than 2,500 care homes across England require improvements including dealing with staff training, mismanagement of medicines, accuracy of records, facilities not meeting safety standards and poor management oversight.

At Bell Lax our specialist lawyers have a wealth of experience of acting for people injured as a result of negligence in care homes or their families where sadly the injured person has subsequently passed away.

Commonly the claims we deal with include:

1. Broken bones from falls
2. Pressure Ulcers / Bed Sores
3. Incorrect Medication and Prescriptions  
4. Medication not given at all
5. Handling errors