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Care Home Neglect Claims
Reviewed by
Peter Rigby - Managing Director of Medical Negligence | Last updated on: 18th December, 2024
We've got your Care Home Neglect Claim covered
- No win No fee
- Not just lawyers - real specialists
- No obligation
- UK's highest-rated medical negligence solicitors
When you entrust a care home with the care of a loved one, you expect them to receive the dignity, compassion, and quality of life they deserve. Care homes have a legal and moral responsibility to provide appropriate care to their residents, meeting their physical, emotional, and medical needs.
Unfortunately, we encounter too many cases where this trust is broken, and the standard of care falls alarmingly short. When care home negligence occurs, it can leave residents suffering both mentally and physically, with lasting consequences for their health and well-being.
At Patient Claim Line, we specialise in holding care homes accountable. If you believe your loved one has experienced neglect, mistreatment, or harm in a care home, our team of experienced solicitors is here to help. We can pursue a care home negligence claim on their behalf, ensuring that their suffering is recognised and appropriate compensation is secured.
If you believe your loved one has experienced care home neglect, we can pursue a care home claim on their behalf. We’ll guide you through the process with empathy and commitment to your loved one’s best interests.
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What is Care Home Negligence?
Care home negligence occurs when a care home or its staff fail to provide an acceptable standard of care to residents, resulting in harm, suffering, or a decline in their quality of life. Families place their trust in care homes to look after loved ones, particularly when they are vulnerable and rely on others for their daily needs. When that trust is broken through neglect, poor practices, or unsafe environments, it can have devastating consequences.
What is a Care Home Negligence Claim?
A care home negligence claim is a legal process through which families seek justice and compensation for harm caused by substandard care. These claims not only address the financial and emotional impact on the resident, but also hold care homes accountable, encouraging higher standards of care for others.
Care Home Negligence Compensation may cover:
- Medical expenses and rehabilitation costs.
- Pain and suffering caused by negligence.
- Losses incurred due to poor care, such as additional support or relocation costs.
Making a claim can feel daunting, but it’s an important step toward ensuring your loved one’s rights are protected. Our specialist team is here to guide you through the process with sensitivity and expertise.
What are the most common types of Care Home Negligence claims?
Sadly, care home negligence can take many forms. Some of the most common types of claims we handle include:
Trips and falls
Inadequate supervision, unsafe environments, or poorly maintained facilities in a care home can lead to preventable accidents, such as slips, trips, and falls.
Malnutrition and dehydration
Failing to provide residents with proper nutrition or sufficient hydration can cause severe health complications and is a serious breach of care.
Poor hygiene
Neglecting personal hygiene or maintaining unsanitary living conditions can lead to infections and negatively impact a resident’s quality of life.
Limited access to regular healthcare
Care homes have a duty to ensure residents receive appropriate medical attention. Delayed or missed healthcare appointments can have devastating consequences.
Substandard living conditions
Overcrowding, lack of proper heating, or poor upkeep of the nursing home can create an unsafe or undignified environment for residents.
Pressure sores
Pressure sores, also known as bedsores or pressure ulcers, often result from prolonged immobility and inadequate care, causing pain, infection, and potentially life-threatening complications.
Care home abuse
Positions of authority in a care home can be exploited, resulting in physical or mental abuse. You may be able to claim for violent injury, sexual abuse, exclusion from activities, and ridiculing or bullying by care home employees.
If you believe that a loved one has experienced any of these issues in a care home, contact our team now for some free, no-obligation advice.
How Patient Claim Line can support you with a Care Home Negligence Claim
At Patient Claim Line, we understand how distressing it can be to suspect that a loved one in a care home is not receiving the care they deserve. Many families approach us, concerned about mistreatment or a failure to provide the standard of care expected and paid for. Our team of experienced solicitors is here to guide you, offering expert advice on whether your loved one may have been a victim of care home negligence. If we determine that you have grounds for a nursing home claim, we will work tirelessly to pursue compensation on their behalf.
Here’s how our straightforward process works:
- You contact our team to make an initial inquiry. They’re trained to ask the right questions, ensuring that our legal experts can quickly advise whether you have a valid claim.
- We aim to get back to you as quickly as possible to confirm if we can take on your case.
- If accepted, our team will begin collecting all relevant records and evidence to build a clear picture of what happened. This may include reviewing medical records, obtaining care home documentation, and speaking to witnesses where necessary.
- Once we have gathered all the evidence, we will negotiate directly with the care home or their representatives. Our goal is to recover compensation for out-of-pocket expenses, rehabilitation costs, and any other losses resulting from the negligence.
We always work on a no win, no fee basis. What that means is you’ll pay absolutely nothing for your care home negligence claim, unless you win your case. In that situation, a small portion of your compensation fee covers our solicitor’s fees.
Can I make a Care Home Negligence claim?
Whether or not you can pursue a claim against a care home depends on two key factors.
- Was the standard of care provided by the care home below what is reasonably expected? Did this negligence cause harm or suffering to your loved one?
If both of these conditions are met, you may be able to make a claim. At Patient Claim Line, we specialise in proving cases of care home negligence and can guide you through every step of the process with compassion and expertise.
If you’re unsure whether you have a valid claim, our dedicated team is here to help. It costs nothing to find out – simply reach out to us, and we’ll provide free, no-obligation advice.
Why Choose Patient Claim Line for your Care Home Neglect Claim?
Not just lawyers — medical negligence experts
Patient Claim Line was established in 2014 and consists of a team of medical lawyers specialising in cancer negligence and general medical negligence claims.
At Patient Claim Line we have more than 100 solicitors with a combined experience of over 400 years and they will work on your behalf to achieve the best result possible for you.
It’s not enough to use a solicitor who sometimes covers medical negligence. You need someone who knows this area through and through. That is what the solicitors here at Patient Claim Line do. They deal exclusively in this area of law and are experts in the field.
Frequently asked questions about Care Home Neglect Claims
Our expert legal team answer your questions about making a Care Home Neglect Claim
At Patient Claim Line we work on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. This means, if your care home negligence claim is unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay any legal fees. Your solicitor will write off their fees under the terms of the no win, no fee agreement.
If your claim is successful, your opponent will cover most of your legal costs. However, under the terms of the conditional fee agreement, solicitors are entitled to deduct a small percentage of your compensation as a success fee. The percentage deducted is determined on a case-by-case basis and is always agreed upon upfront before you sign any paperwork, so there will be no surprises.
The amount of compensation you can claim depends on the specifics of your case, including the extent of harm suffered by your loved one. Compensation typically covers:
- Medical expenses, including any treatments or rehabilitation required as a result of the negligence.
- The cost of relocating to a new care home if necessary.
- Compensation for pain, suffering, or loss of dignity experienced by the resident.
- Financial losses incurred by family members, such as travel expenses or loss of income when providing additional care.
When you get in touch with our solicitors, they will assess your case in detail and give you a clearer idea of what you might be entitled to claim.
Yes, there are time limits for filing a care home negligence claim. Typically, you have three years from the date of the negligent act, or from when you first became aware that negligence occurred.
There are however some exceptions to the rule. If the claim is for someone who has passed away, the three year limit begins from the date of death or the date negligence was identified as the cause. Additionally, for individuals who lack mental capacity, there may be no time limit while they remain unable to manage their affairs.
We can’t say for certain exactly how long your care home negligence case would take as the timeline for a claim varies depending on the complexity of the case. However, we can tell you that most care home claims take 2-3 years to be completed.
All cases are different and while straightforward cases may be settled sooner, more complex claims involving disputes over liability, may take longer than this range.
Yes, it is possible to make a claim on behalf of a loved one who has suffered care home negligence. This is common when the resident lacks the mental capacity to pursue the claim themselves. Or, we have seen cases where the resident has passed away, and their next of kin wishes to pursue a claim on their behalf.
We explain everything you need to know in our guide to making a claim for someone else.
Meet our Care Home Neglect Team
Case Study
Sarah's Story
"Now we have peace of mind"
My husband, Nick, went back and forth to the doctors for a long time and tried everything the doctor recommended. But his illness got worse, to the point that he was in agony.
In the end we got so desperate that we asked for a referral. The doctor was reluctant, so we had to consult a private hospital. That’s when we found out there was a tumour. It took years from the onset of his illness to finally start cancer treatment.
He used to be a man with a lot to live for, but in the end he was in so much pain that he withdrew from the family. He became angry that nobody had helped him sooner, and the legal team were able to give him the validation that he was desperately seeking. The NHS confirmed if they had done more, Nick would still be alive today.
