Workplace Solicitor News » Hospital Worker Injury Solicitor
Hospital Worker Injury Solicitor
Posted: November 28th, 2017
Posted: October 21st, 2017
Posted: May 27th, 2016
The Circuit Civil Court has awarded a kitchen assistant a settlement of compensation for injuries she sustained after slipping on wet leaves at her workplace.
The accident occurred at the Baltinglass Hospital on the 19th November 2012 when Ann Groves, a fifty-eight year-old kitchen assistant, was walking towards the rear entrance of her workplace. However, as she was walking, Anne slipped on a patch of wet leaves, which left her with injuries to her ankle. The swelling would not disappear when an ice pack was applied, and upon visiting her GP, Ann was diagnosed with soft tissue damage to her ankle.
However, despite the joint support provided to her by her doctor, Ann continued to experience pain. Her sleeping was interrupted and she found that she could neither stand nor walk for prolonged periods. Ann then went of courses of physiotherapy and acupuncture to try and lessen the pain, and in 2014 even had her spinal cord surgically stimulated. Though this did help alleviate the pain, it never went away.
Ann sought legal counsel and proceeded to make a claim for work injury compensation against the Health Service Executives, her employers. However, the HSE denied that they were liable for her injuries, claiming that there was an established cleaning system for the hospital grounds. Additionally, they argued that Ann’s lack of caution contributed to her own injury.
As liability was contested between the parties, Ann was issued with authorisation by the Injuries Board to pursue her claim in court. The case was heard in the Circuit Civil Court earlier this month by Judge Barry Hickson.
After hearing the evidence, Judge Hickson ruled in Ann’s favour. He dismissed the HSE’s allegations that she had been negligent after hearing a testimony from a maintenance engineer who stated that the maintenance team only started work after the kitchen staff, and as such would not have cleared the wet leaves. Ann was then awarded €25,879 in compensation for her work accident.
Posted: April 3rd, 2015
The Injuries Board Annual Review for 2014 has revealed a substantial increase in the average value of workplace injury compensation settlements.
Although the Injuries Board Annual Review for 2014 indicated a general stabilisation in the number of workplace injury claims, the average value of workplace injury settlements increased by almost 12% from €28,886 in 2013 to €32,134 in 2014.
One exceptional employer liability claim – which resulted in an assessment of €972,898 – was partially responsible for increasing the average value of workplace injury compensation settlements, which over the course of the year totalled €20.1 million.
The Injuries Board figures do not account for any workplace injury compensation settlements that were resolved by negotiation prior to the Injuries Board completing its assessment, or any workplace injury claims in which liability was contested and the claim had to be resolved in court.
31,576 applications for assessment were received by the Injuries Board last year (including motor liability and public liability claims) and, after the Injuries Board had completed its assessments, 12,420 settlements were accepted (39%).
The acceptance rate is significantly higher than the previous year due to a large volume of applications being received towards the end of 2013 which were only resolved last year. Nonetheless, Patricia Byron – the Chief Executive of the Injuries Board was satisfied with the performance of her organisation over 2014. She said:
“While the volume of new claims stabilized last year, the increase in the number of awards made by the Board is a clear indication that more respondents, typically insurers, are opting to engage with our low cost claims resolution service and recognize the real value of avoiding unnecessary and costly litigation where uncontested claims are concerned”.
Ms Byron continued: “2014 was an important year for us as we marked a decade in operation. As a result of our journey, personal injury compensation is now delivered in 7 months and at a processing cost of 6.7%, compared to almost 3 years and a cost of 58% for litigated claims. With over €1 billion in savings delivered to date and a ten year track record behind us, the benefits of non-adversarial claims resolution are unequivocal.”
Posted: June 4th, 2013
The Department for Work and Pensions in the UK has published new figures that indicate that the number of medical negligence related claims against the NHS have risen by almost 20 per cent in the past 12 months.
The government institution responsible for recovering the cost of hospital treatment and selected state benefits from compensation settlements – the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Compensation Recovery Unit – is in 2012/2013, registered 16,006 medical negligence related claims against the NHS compared to 13,517 in 2011/2012.
The yearly number of claims against the NHS for medical negligence has now almost grown by 100% since 2007/2008, leading the Chief Executive of the Patients Association – Katherine Murphy – to remark “I think the public has become far less tolerant about putting up with appalling failings in care, but most people only pursue legal action when every other avenue has failed.”
Ms Murphy’s comments were mirrored by a leading medical negligence solicitor who said “In the past, victims of medical accidents often had moral reservations about claiming against the NHS, despite having clearly suffered extreme negligence in some cases, but the shocking findings of the Francis report have now made hospitals fair game in the eyes of the public.”
Although a rise medical negligence related claims against the NHS was no surprise in light of a series of breaking news stories concerning gross medical negligence in NHS hospitals, the size of the increase surprised Margaret Hodge – chairperson of the Commons Public Accounts Committee – who referred to the figures as “deeply worrying” and said that the quality of healthcare provided by the NHS was a “major concern”.
A Department of Health spokesman commented “Whilst we know the vast majority of patients get good, safe care, the best way to reduce compensation claims is to improve patient safety further – and this is a priority.” He added that the NHS has brought in a global expert, Dr Don Berwick, to provide advice on how to create “a zero-harm culture in the NHS” and reduce the number of medical negligence related claims made against the NHS.
For more see here.
Posted: November 5th, 2012
Figures published by the Department of Work and Pensions compensation recovery unit have indicated that workplace injury claims in Scotland increased by almost a quarter in the twelve months to March 2012.
6,191 personal injury compensation claims were recorded by the Department of Work and Pensions during the year, as opposed to 4,955 throughout the previous twelve months and in spite of workplace accidents in Scotland reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) declining by almost 7 percent in the same period.
The percentage increase in workplace injury compensation claims in Scotland is six times that recorded in England and Wales and, according to a leading Scottish solicitor, could increase still further. Fear of losing their job and not getting another one – particularly in the current economic climate – may have held workers back from making compensation claims in the past he claimed but “given the preponderance of employment in agriculture and construction, plus the significant rates of accidents in this country, we would expect a lot more claims.”
Commenting on the increase of almost 50 percent in workplace deaths in Scotland, Alistair McNab – HSE head of operations in Scotland – stated: “While there has been a welcome drop in injury and ill-health in Scotland, the increase in workplace deaths proves that there is no room for complacency. It is important that efforts are concentrated on managing the risks that lead to serious harm in workplaces throughout Scotland. It is unacceptable that Scottish workers are still failing to come home from work safe”.
There are two significant factors which should be considered when comparing the number of injuries reported to the HSE against the number of workplace injury claims in Scotland. First, as unemployment continues to increasse in Scotland, the percentage decrease in workplace accidents in Scotland is much lower if measured in injuries per 100 employees.
Secondly, only reportable injuries under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) are registered by the HSE. If an employer does not inform the HSE of an incident – or it does not qualify under RIDDOR regulations – that accident and injury is not considered in the annual report.
Posted: October 29th, 2012
A former waiter at the Slieve Russell Hotel has been giving evidence at the High Court in support of his hotel worker injury claim for compensation.
Robert Miloch, from Ballyconnell, County Cavan, made his claim for hotel staff worker compensation against the Slieve Russell Hotel and its parent company – Quinn Hotels Limited – due to suffering a back injury while loading trays onto a trolley in April 2010.
The High Court was told that while he was squatting down to replace breakfast trays on a trolley, Mr Miloch heard a crack in his back and suffered a pain from his back going down to his leg. The pain stopped him from walking and he was told by the hotel to go home and see his doctor.
In support of his hotel worker injury claim, Mr Miloch showed the court an MRI scan from the time of the accident, revealing that two discs in his back had crushed a nerve. His injury, he alleged, had resulted in his doctor advising him not to return to work and despite extensive physiotherapy had not improved.
Mr Justice Sean Ryan was informed that both the defendants denied their liability for Mr Miloch´s injury and claimed not only that a car accident in which Mr Miloch was involved in later that year could have been responsible for his back injury, but that the injury had been described as “paradoxical” by Mr Miloch´s doctor as his patient could move in one direction but not another.
Posted: October 28th, 2012
A former waiter at the Slieve Russell Hotel has been giving evidence at the High Court in support of his hotel worker trolley injury claim for compensation.
Robert Miloch, from Ballyconnell, County Cavan, made his claim for hotel staff injury compensation against the Slieve Russell Hotel and its parent company – Quinn Hotels Limited – due to suffering a back injury while loading a trolley with trays in April 2010.
The High Court heard that while he was squatting down to replace breakfast trays on a trolley, Mr Miloch heard something crack in his back and suffered a pain from his back going down to his leg. The pain stopped him from walking and he was told by the hotel to go home and see his GP.
In support of his hotel trolley injury claim, Mr Miloch showed the court an MRI scan from the time of the accident, revealing that two discs in his back had crushed a nerve. His injury, he claimed, had resulted in his doctor telling him not to return to work and despite extensive physiotherapy the injury had not improved.
Mr Justice Sean Ryan was told that both the defendants denied their liability for Mr Miloch´s injury and claimed not only that a car crash in which Mr Miloch was involved in later that year could also have been responsible for his back injury, but that the injury had been described as “paradoxical” by Mr Miloch´s doctor as his patient could move in one direction but not another.
The case is due to continue at the High Court.
