Glasgow solicitor secures victory for family of mother who died in care

Our client’s mother was a resident in a local care home suffering from dementia. On the day of the incident, she managed to gain access to a cellar as a result of the door being left unsecured which led to tragic consequences.

“We got the call that Mum had gone missing and that they were out searching for her. They were looking for 3 hours before they finally found her at the bottom of concrete stairs in the basement.”

Our client’s mother was taken to hospital but she died from her injuries several days later.

“We were devastated, we’d put our trust in these people and had expected them to look after her. When I’d gone in to ask what had happened they told me the lock on the door was broken and that it would be replaced.”

The client went to his local solicitor for advice. However, the care home denied liability as they alleged a prior inspection of the lock on the door showed no faults. 

The client decided to get in touch with Digby Brown for a second opinion. He spoke with Joy Bell, Senior Solicitor in our Glasgow office, who specialises in negligent care cases. Despite the denial, Joy felt there was a case to answer and took on his case.

“Joy was absolutely amazing. It was a very painful process for the family but Joy gave us all the information we needed.”

As the care home were denying liability for what happened, the case was raised in the Court of Session using our compensate no win no fee funding package meaning there was no risk of any costs for the family. 

Joy was able to track down statements taken from staff claimed that the door was hard to close.  This showed the care home knew of the risk that the door posed for vulnerable residents.

On the day before the case was due to be heart in court, the care home caved and settlement was achieved. The family were awarded £149,000 in total.

“We were ecstatic with the result. It would have been impossible to do ourselves. Having a specialist who was able to explain everything to us made such a difference.

“I would tell anyone who wasn’t sure about making a claim to call Digby Brown, I’ve already recommended them to people.”

Joy Bell commented, “This was a tough case in which the care home were fighting for their reputation and seemed determined to go all the way.  Negligent Care cases tend to be very complex and expensive to investigate.  Luckily we have built up a large amount of knowledge and experience in our Negligent Care Team and can offer the best advice possible to vulnerable clients and their families”.