The papers have often featured cases where legal action has been taken against a hospital or care home for neglect in which bedsores have been a feature of the patient's condition. In one such case the daughter of William Taylor took legal action against the operators of a chain of care homes after her father died from a blood infection resulting from bedsores.

Earlier this year a woman launched legal action after her mother died 12 hours after leaving one hospital for another. On discharge from Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, Dorothy Barnett, aged 95, was covered in bedsores. Her daughter, Alix Green said: "When she was in Cumberland Infirmary she developed extensive sores on her arms, legs and back. She was in considerable discomfort. When she came back to Alston Cottage Hospital, staff were so concerned they took photographs."

Also, earlier this year neglect levels in care homes were described as "scandalous" after it was revealed that 1,446 people had died suffering from bedsores. The figures came from the Office for National Statistics which analysed death certificates for care home residents in England and Wales between 2005 and 2009.

A report by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death, which came out last year added to the bleak picture, claiming that only a third of elderly patients who are admitted to hospital for an operation get good care and that their needs were not fully understood by doctors.

Bupa, the country's biggest care home chain, which runs 300 care homes, also suffered negative headlines when it was revealed that it had been investigated for 12 cases of serious neglect or abuse. The investigation found that a woman had died after being left in her wheelchair all night and another woman of 91 died "covered in bedsores, undernourished and very dehydrated" after being left in bed without being moved.

The inquest into the death of Gwendolyn Hoar, who died in a Bupa care home in Herts, found that she had died with multiple bedsores which had become infected down to the bone. She was found to have been bed-bound, underfed, dehydrated and with her back, hips and feet covered in ulcers. The coroner at the inquest said that he found the care provided to her at the home was "seriously disturbing" and concluded that the bedsores had significantly contributed to her death.