The report by the Long Term Care Community Coalition says the state Health Department cites nursing homes less than 100 times per year for inadequate bedsore care. More than 9,000 N.Y. nursing home residents have unhealed bedsores, according to the report.
The Health Department had no immediate comment on the report.
Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, are wounds caused by unrelieved pressure on the skin. They often develop on the elbow, heel, hip, shoulder, back and back of the head. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says bedsores are serious medical conditions and a key measure of the quality of nursing home care.
The Manhattan-based consumer advocacy group's report found that when the state does cite nursing homes for poor bedsore care, its inspectors rarely find there was any harm to residents. Nursing homes are not likely to be fined or face other repercussions when inspectors determine a problem did not harm residents, the report says.
"Since pressure ulcers (bed sores) are, by definition, a wound and are well recognized as a serious problem, one might consider that any case of a pressure ulcer developing is harmful to the individual," the report says.
The report says nursing home inspectors in New York and other states also downplay other problems such as understaffing and inappropriate drugging of residents with antipsychotic medications.
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NY nursing home inspectors lax about bedsores, other care problems, report says
2 comments:
The inspectors need to wakeup and do their job! Facilities need accountability so things will change. These are people's lives that are endangered by the lack of real oversite.
They are more than laxed. For years my husband has and continues to have bedsores, pressure ulcers, skin breakdown and I have filed, complained to get a reply, that as long as it is being treated it's ok. There is no accountability and in my opinion are all in it together protecting each other.
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