The provincial appeals court in Granada had confirmed a guilty verdict on five employees of a nursing home in the city for negligent manslaughter.

The employees—two assistants, the supervisor, the director, and the manager—acted with “absolute passivity” and were responsible for the “negligence” that caused the asphyxiation death of a resident in 2022, according to the sentence.

The 85-year-old man died from respiratory failure. The man, who suffered from dementia and slept in restraints, fell out of bed and suffocated because the railings were not working properly.

Three of the employees (the supervisor, one of the assistants, and the director) received a prison sentence of 18 months for gross negligent manslaughter. Furthermore, they are banned from working in nursing homes for three years.

As for the other nursing assistant and the manager, they were found criminally responsible for negligent manslaughter but to a lesser degree, thus receiving a 30-day fine at a rate of 20 euros a day; i.e., 600 euros.

However, those given prison sentences will not actually have to spend time behind bars as the sentence is less that two years and they have no previous criminal record, therefore it is a suspended sentence.

In the ruling, the court considers proven that there was a flagrant neglect of duties and that the patient’s bed and rails did not have a proper anchoring system. The patient was secured via a lap belt to the rail, but the staff did not check that the rail was secure, which it wasn’t because it was missing screws.

It wasn’t until the shift change that the man was found flying on the floor, face down, causing chest compression.

Apparently, there had been previous incidents of patients falling out of bed because of the inadequate rails yet nothing had been done to remedy this.

Lastly the court found that, “The staffing resources to care for the residents are completely precarious,” a situation that leaves the aides responsible for a “disproportionate” number of tasks.

Finally, there can be no further appeal and the sentence is firm.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Nursing Home, Negligent Manslaughter, Dementia, Fell from Bed

news, andalucia, granada, city & metropolitan area, nursing home, negligent manslaughter, dementia, fell from bed

Reader’s comment: “I have tried to find out which care home was involved and some people are asking the same question on Spanish News sites, but the press don’t want people to know.” – Julie