[Reporting] An 80-year-old man died after falling in a nursing home, can his family claim compensation?
Our reporter Liu Youting, our intern Du Yan
With the increase of the elderly population in my country, the "silver hair market" has quietly emerged, and more and more elderly people prefer to live in nursing homes.
However, there are occasional cases where elderly people are injured or even die due to inadequate management and care in nursing homes.
Recently, the Xiangzhou People's Court in Zhuhai, Guangdong heard a right-to-life dispute.
An elderly man in his 80s fell and died in a nursing home, and his family demanded compensation from the nursing home.
【Review of the case】
On April 25, 2020, Huang sent his 82-year-old father (hereinafter referred to as “Father Huang”) to a nursing home in Zhuhai, and informed the nursing home that Father Huang’s left hand and left sternum had just undergone surgery and was recovering.
On the same day, the nursing home performed a Pap Scale assessment for Huang's father, which showed that Huang's father could use assistive devices to walk.
Huang chose the "one-to-six" semi-nursing model, with a monthly nursing fee of 2,800 yuan.
Huang paid 2,000 yuan for the purchase of daily necessities and paid a deposit of 5,000 yuan on the same day.
After Huang’s father was admitted to the nursing home, he could walk slowly and eat independently, but was reluctant to use a walker, and often went out alone without heeding advice.
On May 16, 2020, Huang's father accidentally fell while walking in the yard by himself without a walker.
The nursing home sent Huang's father to the hospital for treatment and notified the family.
The hospital diagnosed Huang father with head trauma, traumatic cerebral hemorrhage and other symptoms, requiring hospitalization.
Father Huang was discharged from the hospital after 37 days of treatment, and was later hospitalized again for severe pneumonia and other diseases.
On December 5 of the same year, Huang's father died of respiratory failure.
【Trial process】
Huang believes that poor nursing care in the nursing home is the direct cause of Huang's father's death.
Because the nursing home staff did not step up the care of the elderly, Huang's father fell; also because of this fall, Huang's body deteriorated, and the organs failed rapidly, and the final treatment failed to die.
Huang asked the nursing home for more than 400,000 yuan in total for medical expenses, nursing expenses, death compensation, and mental damage consolation.
The nursing home believes that Huang’s father is not one-to-one care, and when he is conscious, he does not ask for a nursing staff to accompany him, nor does he use a walker to travel without authorization, and he should bear the risk of falling.
The nursing home took timely treatment measures after Huang's father fell, and sent him to the hospital in the shortest time. The contractual obligations agreed upon have been fulfilled, and there was no wrongdoing.
What's more, Huang's father was cured and discharged from the hospital on June 11, 2020 after being injured, and his subsequent hospitalization and death due to pneumonia and other diseases have nothing to do with the nursing home.
After the trial, the court held that when the nursing home provided elderly care services, it should be noted that Huang's father was older and had old injuries and diseases, and he was an object requiring special care.
Judging from the surveillance video, when Huang’s father was walking alone, there were no nursing staff to take care of him for at least 15 minutes. The nursing home was at fault for poor nursing care.
However, the nursing home provided Huang's father with "one-to-six" service, not a 24-hour personal service. Because of his age and old diseases, Huang's father is not suitable for long-term independent walking, and he should also be cautious. Duty of care.
Therefore, Huang's father should also bear the corresponding responsibility for his fall and injury.
【Judgment result】
The court decided that the nursing home should be liable for 20% of the overall compensation for the loss caused by Huang's father's fall, injury and eventual death.
In the end, it was determined that the nursing home should compensate Huang more than 60,000 yuan, pay 10,000 yuan of mental damage comfort money, and refund the deposit and 6,000 yuan of daily necessities purchase fees.
【Argument by case】
For the elderly care service industry, its service objects are special, and in the case of negligence in management, elderly care institutions can easily fall into legal risks.
It is worth paying attention to how nursing homes can reasonably prevent these risks through prior prevention.
The judge proposed that when accepting the elderly, the elderly care institution should make detailed agreements on nursing standards, nursing methods, nursing fees, and reasons for exemption, so as to avoid conflicts due to unclear agreements.
At the same time, nursing homes should provide a safe nursing environment, and ensure that call bells are set in beds, toilets and public activity areas; the video surveillance system should ensure 24-hour uninterrupted operation, and nursing staff should keep nursing records during work to avoid unfounded disputes. can depend on.
In addition, elderly care institutions should pay more attention to elderly people who have problems with their self-care and health conditions, and prevent them from causing personal injury risks due to insufficient body functions, especially to formulate preventive plans for emergencies such as falls and falls.
Nursing institutions should also have a certain awareness of "two-way communication". On the one hand, they should make the "stubborn" elderly obey persuasion and obey management; The elderly should also be given adequate care, and the level of care should be adjusted according to the physical condition of the elderly.