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Posted on: January 26, 2015 by Huntersure
In our previous post, we mentioned that mistreatment of residents is one of the most common liability exposures that residential care facilities face. These exposures often leave facilities vulnerable to lawsuits and other legal complications, and can be burdensome for all parties involved. The best way to avoid a lawsuit for mistreatment of a resident is to ensure that proper care and attention are provided to all residents at all times and that any discrepancies are investigated thoroughly and handled properly.
Allegations of mistreatment very rarely come from the residents of a care facility themselves. More frequently, these claims are brought by a resident’s family or legal custodian who observes changes in the resident’s condition, personality, or behavior. It is important to take all calims seriously, whether they are believed to be founded or not, and investigate the circumstances thoroughly. Not doing so could expose an operation to even greater liability concerns.
Mistreatment comes in many forms and arises from a number of situations, including improper staffing, training, handling, and even intentional misconduct. While the vast majority of care providers take pride in maintaining a safe and healthy atmosphere for their residents, it is often some dysfunction within the care facility, such as staffing shortages, poor procedural execution, or improper training, that result in resident mistreatment. Staff shortage, for example, should never be an excuse for the mistreatment of the elderly, however many experts believe that worker shortages are the biggest problem facing nursing homes and a large contributor to resident neglect and mistreatment. Understaffing and poorly training can dramatically increase the chances of a professional mistake on the part of both the care provider and management. Without proper staffing it is hard to maintain quality of care and oversight of all residents.
Furthermore, lax policies and management protocols are another large contributor to resident mistreatment. For example, strict adherence to documentation and paperwork practices can prevent wrongful care acts such as misadministration of medication, failure to facilitate tasks such as bathing, and other failures. It is the responsibility of the management and administrators to ensure that all rules, regulations, procedures and protocol are followed to ensure the safety and productivity of the car facility.
Residential facilities face a number of risks, particularly in the areas of general liability, professional liability and cyber liability. At Huntersure, we specialize in providing quality Residential Care Facility insurance programs to respond to each of these areas, designed to safeguard these facilities and their staff from financial loss. Our Residential Care Facility Liability insurance is designed to help protect care facilities and providers from a number of exposures, including allegations of mistreatment, neglect, and wrongdoing. To learn more about our operation as well as our allied healthcare insurance programs, contact us today at (855) 585-6255.
Posted in: Allied Healthcare blog Professional Liability Residential Care Facility