Understanding Institutional Abuse in Care Homes: Your Legal Options

Institutional abuse is an umbrella term. It’s used to describe various forms of harm, whether physical, psychological, sexual or other, and the legal consequences for each. Harm that occurs in a residential care home falls under this umbrella and encompasses both minor and major forms of abuse, including both intentional and unintentional cases of mistreatment.

That’s to say that each case is unique — some stem from egregious, intentional malpractice while others may arise from unintentional neglect or systemic issues within the nursing home. In any case, if you’ve suffered due to a care home’s negligence, intentional or otherwise, you may be entitled to compensation.

Care homes are legally obligated to provide competent care to those within their residential facilities — referred to as their ‘duty of care.’ Duty of care is more formally defined as the institution’s obligation to exercise a level of care toward an individual, as is reasonable in all circumstances, to avoid causing harm to that person.

If you decide to pursue a claim, establishing a breach in the residential care facilities’ duty of care will be the basis for your claim. Establishing a breach entails:

1. Establishing the standard of care: This step involves proving the expected level of care in the care home. It requires demonstrating the norms and standards typical for similar care environments and outlining the expected conduct of professionals in those settings.
2. Demonstrating non-compliance with the standard: Once the standard of care is established, the next step is to provide evidence showing that the care home failed to meet this standard, whether through specific actions or a failure to act (i.e., whether through misdiagnoses, or a failure to diagnose).
3. Linking the breach to the harm incurred: The final step is to prove that the deviation from the standard of care directly resulted in physical, psychological or emotional harm to the nursing home resident.

A breach of duty of care can impact both individuals receiving care, and also their family members and loved ones. For instance, one of GMP Law’s clients was awarded a settlement of $160,500 following a care home’s failure to adequately monitor and treat his father’s severe infection, resulting in preventable complications and premature passing.

Unfortunately, diagnostic failures and delays are common forms of breaches, as are medication administration errors. Other examples of aged care negligence include:

• Inadequate staffing levels: Having too few caregivers to ensure timely medication distribution or assistance with daily activities like eating, bathing and mobility — leading to prolonged periods without basic care.
• Physical abuse: Specific incidents may include a staff member striking a resident, unnecessary physical restraint leading to injuries, or rough handling during transfers and mobility assistance.
• Emotional or psychological abuse: As the most prevalent form of elder abuse, this could involve caregivers yelling at residents, using harsh or degrading language, isolating them as punishment or making threats.
• Sexual abuse: Incidents may range from inappropriate touching during bathing or dressing to coerced sexual acts. Such cases often go unreported due to the vulnerability of the population.
• Neglect of basic needs: Forgetting to provide meals, failing to regularly change clothing or bedding or leaving residents in soiled clothing or bedding for extended periods.
• Financial abuse: This may involve staff or administrators misusing a resident’s credit cards, stealing cash or valuables from the elderly’s belongings or coercing residents into changing wills or financial documents.

If you’re questioning whether you’re entitled to compensation, consider speaking with one of our nursing home abuse lawyers. The consultation is free and non-obligatory, ensuring complete confidentiality. We conduct all our work through the lens of our triple c attitude: compassionate, competent and committed legal services, working to ensure you receive justice and the compensation you deserve.