Care homes are there for when we can no longer look after our loved ones, or require a professional to look after them for us. There has been plenty in the news recently about badly run care homes, or incidents in which those being looked after have been neglected. There are plenty of health and safety regulations in place to ensure the safety of those in a care home, however, for some reason these aren’t always being adhered to. We have used research from various governing bodies to find out exactly how common care home injuries are, along with advice on what to do if the worst should happen.
Types Of Care Home Injuries
The most common injury in a care home that looks after elderly or unwell people are falls, with between 50-75% of residents falling over each year. Statistics show that a care home with 100 beds usually has around 150 falls in one year, with many of these going unreported. The other most common care home injuries include food poisoning and malnutrition, negligence related injuries and even abuse. Secret documentary filming has shown that those living in a care home can sometimes be subjected to physical abuse, or neglected when they have fallen over or hurt themselves. Of course, not all care homes have repeated cases such as this, but unfortunately it is becoming more common.
What Can Be Done?
Depending on the injury, there are several ways to deal with a situation such as this. If you notice that your loved one has been injured then you need to find out the exact details. For injuries that were due to them being unable to walk or something similar, it is best to contact the care home and ask that more attention be paid to your friend or relative. If there has been an injury or abuse, through no fault of your loved one, then you can make a claim for compensation. You could make a claim if you have suffered an injury while in the care of a specialist home or you may ask someone else to do this for you. There are legal specialists in this field who will be able to help you put forward a claim for compensation. In most instances, the claim will be made to the care home itself, or you can make a personal claim if the injury were due to abuse or an attack.
Don’t Just Leave It Be
It is vitally important that you do not let situations like this rest, for it could seriously damage the physical and mental well-being of yourself or your loved one. There are other avenues, such as letters of complaint or writing to governing bodies, if you think claiming compensation is too much to take on. Ensure that the care home understand you are not happy with the way your relative or friend is being looked after, and demand that things change.
We put a lot of trust into care homes and most of the time it is for good reason. However, with care home injuries becoming more common it is important to remain vigilant. If you ever suspect that your loved one is not being looked after properly then you need to make a stand.