Pressure Sore Claims

Pressure sores can develop when people are immobile and confined to a bed, chair or wheelchair for long periods. They can sometimes form very quickly, in a matter of a few hours, but often develop gradually. Pressure sores can be extremely serious and lead to life threatening complications such as sepsis and limb amputation.

Medical professionals often use a grading system to describe the severity of pressure sores from grade 1, where only the top layer of the skin tends to be affected, to grade 4 where the skin is severely damaged and the surrounding tissue begins to die. Underlying muscles or bone may also be damaged.

Those in hospital or a care home should be regularly monitored and offered advice and treatment to reduce the risk of pressure sores. For example, it is important that patients at risk have their position changed regularly.

Claims for medical negligence arise when failings in care lead to the development or worsening of pressure sores. This may be as a result of:

• a failure to properly assess a patient’s needs
• failure to arrange a pressure relieving mattress for the patient
• failure to involve a tissue viability nurse at an early stage to manage a low-grade ulcer
• a failure to ensure a patient regularly has their position changed
• a failure to properly treat pressure sores leading to infection and progression to Grade 3 or 4

In the USA, the NQF (National Quality Forum) has defined a list of 27 Never Events which it expects all US hospitals to avoid – Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a healthcare facility are one such “Never Event”.

Remarkably, the NHS and UK Care Homes do not consider Stage 3 or 4 pressures sores to be “Never Events”.