Verdict clinic must stick out of the window for jumping a dementia patient

OLG Hamm: Care obligations were violated
If a confused, demented patient jumps out of a hospital window, the clinic must be liable for any damage suffered. Because especially in the case of severely dementia patients must be assumed by an unpredictable behavior, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm decided in a verdict on Wednesday, 19 April 2017, published final judgment (Az .: 26 U 30/16). It would have been possible and reasonable for the hospital to move the patient to a single-floor hospital room or to prevent the window from being opened, according to Hammer Richter in its decision of 17 January 2017.

The woman with dementia, who died in March 2011 at the age of 81, had been admitted to a hospital in Winterberg because of a fainting spell. On the day of admission, she became restless, aggressive, confused and disoriented. The nurses had a hard time preventing them from running away. The nurses finally blocked the door from the outside with a hospital bed.

Image: Gina Sanders - fotolia

The 81-year-old then climbed unnoticed out of the window and fell five feet deep on a canopy of the clinic. The patient suffered rib fractures as well as a lumbar, a femoral and a pelvic fracture. The injuries were treated surgically in another hospital. From there she came to a nursing home, where she died shortly afterwards.

The health insurance of the woman demanded compensation from the hospital owner in the amount of around 93,300 euros for the accident-related treatment and for the hospital daily allowance. The clinic had violated their duty of care.

The OLG gave the health insurance right now. The clinic had violated their contractual duties of care and against their duty of care. She should have protected the patient from damage and dangers.

According to the hospital's documentation, the 81-year-old was "unpredictable" and wanted to escape from her room. The medical expert also confirmed that patients "want to do practically anything with this disease". The clinic should therefore have considered a possible escape through the window into consideration. The nursing staff would therefore have had to avoid jumping out of the window or having to consider moving to another, for example, ground floor room. This would have been possible and reasonable, so the OLG. fle / mwo