Doctor and two care staff jailed for death of 81-year-old woman at nursing home in Spain
Due to the lack of basic treatment for problems that eventually required amputation and led to heart failure, a court in Seville also ordered the sum of 170,000 euros compensation to be paid to the deceased's family
A doctor and two care staff at a nursing home in Spain have been sentenced to prison and professional disqualification by the provincial court of Seville for the continued failure to care for the injuries of an 81-year-old woman.
Mrs M, born in 1924, suffered from chronic heart and lung diseases, diabetes and had the after-effects of a stroke. With an immobile life and total dependence, her relatives entrusted a specialised "socio-sanitary" centre for her care. However, after two months, ulcers appeared on her heels that worsened day by day, until she had to be admitted with "a lot of pus and the smell of infection," the ruling, made public this Wednesday, stated. The evolution of the lesions, aggravated by the lack of care, meant that a month later her "left lower limb" was amputated and other invasive procedures were carried out on the other foot.
A few days after the amputation, the woman showed a general deterioration, with a decreased level of consciousness and died of "cardiac insufficiency". The accused were two nurses for "failing to follow preventive measures and displaying a clear disregard for the most basic duties"; and the doctor who ran the care home, for "failing to examine the ulcers" and for "acting with complete neglect of her responsibilities and total lack of skill". "She did not take a complete medical history establishing the pathologies and the treatment to be followed in accordance with the patient's needs, nor was an adequate treatment schedule established," states the report of the criminal court of Seville.
The ruling continued: "After the appearance of the ulcers, the correct measures were not taken for their healing or to prevent their evolution, such as: daily hygiene, constant hydration of the skin, circular massage and the like. Instead of adopting these measures, the medical staff merely placed heel pads on the feet, without any medical practice of any kind being recorded".
A "clamorous omission", as highlighted by the plaintiff, represented by Francisco Javier Villapando and the patient ombudsman. M. went through "a real ordeal", they stressed. "The judgement itself stated on arrival at the hospital how the poor woman's wounds smelled of putrefaction. It must be said that she had arrived at the care home without a single ulcer. And everything unfolded in just over a month of neglect and abandonment.”
The verdict, which became final after 19 years of judicial proceedings, a time that led to the application of the mitigating circumstance of undue delay, sentenced the defendants to three months' imprisonment and six months' professional disqualification. The sentence also obliges the insurers of the care home, Asistencia Geriátrica Andaluza Reifs, to pay 170,000 euros compensation to the deceased's family.
"The medical care received by M. during her stay in the centre was inadequate and deficient, proving that this serious lack of care determined the appearance and aggravation of the ulcers she suffered, with the defendants omitting to provide adequate care for the patient, which resulted in a harmful outcome," the court concluded.
