Care home injuries
Having a loved one admitted to a care home can be one of the toughest decisions a family can make. No one wants their mum, dad, brother, sister or child to live in a care home but we understand that sometimes this decision has to be made.
Maybe your loved one needs expert care not available at home. Or perhaps they can no longer live independently and require round-the-clock care to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of others.
The reason why your loved one ended up in a care home doesn’t matter.
But when injuries happen in care homes it’s devastating for all involved. You expect your loved ones to be cared for in a safe environment, and it feels like a betrayal of trust.
We understand how heavy that may feel. But remember, you didn’t fail your loved one -the system did.
We know you had their best interests at heart. We are here to help.
What is negligent care in a care home?
Negligence in a care home is when the standard of care provided by staff falls below an acceptable standard resulting in harm or loss to their vulnerable residents.
Failures can happen for many reasons. High work pressure, staff shortages, underfunding, lack of resources or leadership, and lack of training and expertise, to name just a few.
Some care homes don’t have any trained nurses. In this situation they rely on health care support workers to help, but they often do not have the same level of knowledge and expertise as nurses working in a nursing home or hospital.
This is why organisations like the Care Inspectorate exist - to make sure care professionals and their staff (including contractors and agency workers) follow the expected standards.
Endorsed by the Scottish Government, the standards should align with the principles set out in the Health and Social Care Standards which focus on five main areas to promote a high quality of care provision in care environments.
These principles include:
- Dignity and respect
- Compassion
- Be included
- Responsive care and support
- Wellbeing
The Care Inspectorate also provides a wealth of resources for Care Providers to ensure that they understand what standard of care they should be meeting when delivering care to their residents.
How can I make a care home compensation claim?
If you have any concerns about the standard of care your relative is receiving, then you should first raise concerns directly with the care home. This can often help resolve your concerns.
If you are still concerned, the next step is to raise a complaint with the Care Inspectorate.
The Care Inspectorate can investigate complaints or incidents generally up to 6 months following an incident. They will investigate complaints regarding:
- Inadequate standards of care
- Failure to uphold the rights of a person using a service, or their relatives or carers.
- A care service's failure to follow appropriate safe care practices.
- The practice of staff, including treatment by, or conduct of, a member of staff, fitness of staff, inadequate staff training and staff numbers or deployment.
A Care Inspectorate investigation can help shed light on the precise failings that led to your loved one’s suffering. This regulatory organisation can also deliver recommendations to help improve standards in care homes which also serve to benefit other residents and families.
When should I seek legal advice?
You don’t need to wait for the outcome of a complaint before contacting Digby Brown for legal advice. We can support you through the process and sometimes we can begin our own investigations at the same time.
Coming to us earlier also allows us to gather witness statements while memories are fresh and it reduces the chance of documents and other records going missing.
No win, no fee personal injury solicitors
The expression “No win, no fee” is often used in personal injury cases. It is used as a way of funding a compensation claim where the accident victim does not have the means to pay for the costs involved as the case progresses.
A number of solicitors are prepared to handle personal injury cases on a “No Win – No Fee” basis but very few are able to offer their clients complete protection if the case is unsuccessful.
In that event, the client could end up being liable for many thousands of pounds in legal expenses or the case won't be fully investigated and therefore likely to under-settle.
Compensate 'no win, no fee' funding
Digby Brown has its own funding company, Compensate, which provides the funding to allow the case to be fully investigated, employ the best experts surrounding the circumstances of the accident and/or injuries sustained and where and if necessary go to court.
If for whatever reason the case is unsuccessful, Compensate pays all your legal expenses and those of your opponent – you pay nothing.
On average our clients receive over 3 times the pre-litigation offer
Because of Compensate funding Digby Brown's success rate is extremely high and on average our clients receive three times the pre-litigation offer.
In the event the case is successful, a small percentage of your damages will be deducted with VAT to pay for this service. The percentage which Compensate will charge depends on the degree of risk involved. We believe that this is the fairest method of giving clients access to justice whilst ensuring their cases are fully investigated, prepared and funded.
Don’t take our word for it, just read many of the court decisions and case studies on our website.
Beware of compensation offers which may be too good
We know you will have seen many adverts offering 100% compensation or telling you that you will not lose any of your compensation, however we believe there are a number of problems with companies that do this.
- How do they make their money if they don’t charge you anything?
- If they aren’t taking any money from you, the client, what incentive do they have to ensure you receive the right level of compensation, appropriate to the injuries you have sustained?
- Fully preparing a case, finding out exactly what happened and what the consequences of your injuries may mean in the long term, is expensive, how do they do this properly?
- If they aren’t fully preparing these cases will they just accept the first offer they are given on your behalf by the Insurance company?
- It makes simple business sense, the less work they do the higher their profit margin is - they simply have no incentive to work harder on your behalf.
- These adverts in the main are from English firms on national television which operates in a different way and therefore wouldn’t apply to a Scottish person.
We know from the many client cases we mandate from other firms of solicitors (in the main at the request of the client who is extremely unsatisfied with the service received for the other firm) that many shortcuts are taken in preparation and that the first offer received is being recommended for acceptance, regardless of the value.
Getting something for nothing is usually the first sign of poor service.
Correct level of compensation with Digby Brown
Our experience and statistics show time and time again we will achieve the correct level of compensation which will be substantially more than the insurer is initially prepared to offer.
Even after we have deducted our percentage as a success fee you will gain considerably more than you would have achieved using a 100% compensation model.
Contact Digby Brown's personal injury solicitors
We have offices across Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Aberdeen and Ayr.
For further information about no win, no fee, or anything else, call us on 0333 200 5925 or fill in our enquiry form below and someone will get back in touch with you.
Common accidents linked to negligent care
We are here to make sure you and your loved ones get a fair outcome if you have suffered an injury and loss due to negligent care.
There are some areas where we are unable to help as we deal solely with personal injury law. This means if you have a complaint about poor food quality or a loved one being left in dirty clothes, we are sadly unable to help. As much as we would like to help in wider circumstances, we can only help if your loved one has suffered a physical injury as a result of poor care such as:
Falls
Even with a care plan in place, falls can still happen - particularly as residents are rarely under constant one-to-one supervision. But if there is a known risk of falling there should be a plan in place to help reduce the risk of further falls. If that plan isn’t used properly and someone gets hurt, it could mean the standard of care was not good enough.
Falls from height
These may happen when someone is being moved using equipment such as a hoist or bath chair. Whether it was equipment breaking or something not being used properly, care homes are responsible for regularly checking that equipment is safe and making sure staff are trained on how to use it correctly to avoid such accidents.
Drug errors
Giving the wrong medicine or wrong dose can have very serious consequences, sometimes resulting in hospital treatment. Staff responsible for administering medications should be trained properly to ensure they administer the correct dose of the correct medicine to the right person.
Pressure Ulcers
Pressure ulcers - more commonly known as “bed sores” or “pressure sores” are often caused by continued pressure or friction on the skin. While some may develop even with appropriate care, the risk is significantly higher in individuals with reduced mobility, poor nutritional intake, incontinence, or impaired blood flow.
Care providers are expected to follow national guidance to reduce the risk such as the Prevention and Management of Pressure Ulcers Standardspublished by Health Improvement Scotland.
Choking incidents
Often patients with Dementia or other medical conditions such as a stroke have difficulty swallowing. They should have an assessment by the Speech and Language Team (SALT) to establish if they need a special diet to prevent choking.
If someone isn’t given the right food or isn’t adequately supervised while eating, it can lead to serious harm or death.
What is included in a care home injury claim?
Every personal injury claim is designed to provide compensation in recognition of the losses people have suffered. When it comes to care home compensation claims there can be unique aspects of your claim that we can help with:
Solatium (pain and suffering) – this is a sum of money that is sought for an injured person and it relates to the pain and suffering they felt from their injury. If the person suffered in pain then died a short time later then this pain and suffering compensation transfers to the executor of their estate – this is known as transmissible solatium.
Care home costs – if a person was injured while receiving private care at home, and that injury meant they were now forced to live as a resident in a care home, we would seek to recover the costs of the care home from the insurer. We believe this is fair because it is not the person/family’s fault they now have to pay for care home costs. It can be complex but we have helped many families who’ve faced these challenges.
Fatal damages – where negligence resulted in the loss of a person we would help you make what is known as a ‘loss of society’ claim. This is where direct family members are provided with compensation to reflect the loss of their loved one.
Generally a nursing expert will confirm if the care was reasonable or not by assessing the provision of care against policies/guidance and national standards.
Nursing homes are different as they tend to have more qualified nurses caring for residents so the standard of care to be assessed can be higher (often similar to the professional standards of a hospital). A nursing expert can define if there have been failings in standards of care.
- Complaints about individual Carers working in a Care service should be directed to the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
- Complaints against a Social Work Department should be directed to the Local Authority.
- Complaints against the NHS hospital or clinic should be directed to the relevant Health Board.
- Complaints against a GP should be directed to the GP Practice.
- The Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) regulates nurses in Scotland.
For independent health service or hospice provider, contact Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
0333 200 5926
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Saturday and Sunday: 12pm - 4pm
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Why Digby Brown?
At Digby Brown, we have been top-ranked for personal injury work by the world’s two biggest legal directories – we have been top ranked in Chambers for the last eighteen years and top ranked by Legal 500 for the last fourteen.
With our resources, experience, and trusted reputation ensure we always act in your best interests, guiding you through the legal process and offering support with the many challenges that come with loss.
For care home cases Joy Bell, Senior Associate, brings a unique perspective to our team.
Before qualifying as a Solicitor, she had a long-standing career in nursing. She worked in various clinical settings and spent over 10 years as a Tissue Viability Nurse, specialising in the prevention of pressure ulcers and wound care.
Her clinical background gives her a strong understanding of care standards and where those standards can fall short.
This means she not only understands what went wrong, but why it matters.
We are here to help.
FAQs
Who can make a negligent care home claim?
If the injured person is able to and has capacity, they can make a claim on their own.
However many people living in a care home do not have the capacity to do so or are vulnerable, and in these cases, someone else can act on their behalf. This is usually:
- An attorney named in a Power of Attorney (POA)
- A guardian appointed by a court through a Guardianship Order (GO)
These legal arrangements give the appointed person the legal right to do things like make decisions about welfare, manage bank accounts and access medical records – and crucially instruct a solicitor. However, if the injured person does not have capacity and there is no appointed Attorney, then a solicitor cannot act in such cases unless there is a Guardianship Order in place.
If the injured person has died, then the executor appointed in a Will has the legal right to make a claim on behalf of that person. If the injured person did not have a Will, then it may be that a family member can be appointed as the Executor for them to act for the deceased.
Whether a POA or GO is involved it is important that the individual has the right financial and welfare powers in place before we are allowed to act.
It should be noted that POA and GO agreements only last while the person with incapacity is alive. If this person has sadly already passed away, you would need an executor after death if there is no will.
How much is my negligent care claim worth?
Every claim is different so the value of your claim will depend on multiple factors. The injuries suffered, how long the injury lasted and so on. Generally, we need a medical report to help accurately determine what is a fair settlement. This is typically done when the care home has admitted fault, or we are confident that we can prove negligence.
How long will my case take to settle?
There is no way of knowing how long a case may take to settle. There is a legal process to follow, and sometimes it can take longer than expected to investigate a case. Delays can happen if care homes insurers are not responding quickly, if we need to recover new documents or if we need to carry out specialist reports on fault for example, and medical experts. If a case needs to be raised in court, this can also add time.
How long do I have to make a care home injury claim?
You have three years from the date of the negligence to either have settled your case or to have raised court proceedings. After this your case will become timebarred and you will lose the right to make a claim. Our best advice is to get in touch as soon as possible.
What needs to be proved to win my negligent care case?
In a care home where there is untrained staff then we have to prove that the level of care provided fell below the “reasonable” standard of expected care, and their negligence or fault caused an injury.
Where there are nursing staff providing care then the test to prove negligence or fault is often higher. We must prove that a competent nurse would have followed a certain standard of care, that the nurse in question failed to do so, and this failure caused or contributed to the injury.
What compensation can be recovered in care home injury claims?
Every personal injury claim is unique and is designed to provide compensation to affected people in recognition of the losses they suffered and can include the following:
- Solatium (pain and suffering): money for the pain caused by the injury, which can pass to the estate if the person dies shortly after (called transmissible solatium).
- Care home costs: if an injury forces someone into a care home, we try to recover those costs from the insurer.
- Fatal damages: when negligence resulted in death, we can help claim compensation for family members to reflect their loss.
- Funeral expenses: if there’s no pre-paid funeral plan, we may recover funeral costs.
Do I have a claim linked to COVID?
There is currently no case law to help establish fault in these types of cases and at this moment cases linked to the 2020 outbreak would likely be time barred however the ongoing Covid inquiry may change this.
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