NHS set to impose £500 fines on hospitals who allow their patients to suffer from bedsores
Clinical Negligence News : 28 May 2012
NHS bosses in Worestershire and across the region are due to be fined £500 for every time an NHS patient suffers from a serious bed sore. The new system, which will be introduced by the NHS Midlands and East Strategic Health Authority in December 2012, aims to significantly lower the number of people who suffer with these sores, which are considered to be key indicators of the quality of nursing care.
The £500 fine will only be given when the most serious kind of bedsore, classified as a grade 3 or 4, is discovered. Between July 1st 2011 and July 31st 2012, the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust reported 24 of these serious bed sores. This number is hoped to be reduced by half when the fines are imposed.
In order to help the situation further, the Health and Care Trust recently bought low-friction pillow cases and bed sheets to reduce the chances of bedsores developing in community hospitals. The risk of bedsores developing can also be reduced by changing the position of patients, keeping them mobile and avoiding positioning patients on an area where a bedsore is already present.
Julie Marsh, an expert bed sore negligence lawyer, commented on the new fines, stating, “It is interesting to see that the two Trust’s mentioned here are aiming to introduce a monetary fine for the most serious of pressure sores. It may be possible with such financial constraints in the current economic climate, that the fines will lead to more pressure on nursing staff who will be encouraged to think more carefully about patients who are immobile and are at higher risk of developing a pressure sore.”