Local Man Suffers Head Injuries in Hospital

Whilst playing football, a local man suffered a serious head injury when a tackle went wrong.

He was taken to a local hospital where he was confused and making little sense. He was placed in a hospital ward by himself. His wife stayed with him until midnight, concerned that he was not safe to be left alone, but she was reassured that the nurse would keep him under close observation. When she rang back at 5am, she discovered that her husband had fallen over twice, suffering a further head injury as a result. His wife stayed with him throughout the next day and noticed that her husband was rarely looked in on by the nurses despite the fact that he was clearly a danger to himself due to his disorientated state.

A neurological examination was not undertaken until the middle of the day. It was clear that the hospital was understaffed and as a result, the most basic of nursing care was not given. Fortunately the patient’s wife was an ex nurse and was able to stand in.

He was left with a minor brain injury, although the medical evidence showed that the brain injury had been caused by the sporting accident and not the falls in the hospital. However, he and his wife were appalled at the quality of the care he received. In particular the hospital took almost no measures to minimise the obvious risk that he would fall in his confused and unsteady state.

They approached Liddys Solicitors. Having read the medical notes, it was clear that the most basic steps had not been taken to safeguard the patient to avoid his first fall in hospital and even then, the ward was just too understaffed to allow the nurses to avoid him falling a second time.

Liddys Solicitors wrote a letter of claim. The hospital admitted fault for the first fall but denied fault for the second. It was clear from the medical evidence that thankfully the only injuries caused by the falls in hospital were a gash to the top of his head and bruising to his face. After issuing Court proceedings, the case was settled for a sum of £2,000.

This was a case where the results from those falls could have been tragic. A person’s brain is a lot more vulnerable to injury when it has already been injured.

Liddys Solicitors have dealt with many hundreds of claims for clinical negligence. We have laywers who specialise in clinical negligence, other lawyers who specialise in accidents at work and other lawyers who specialise in road traffic accidents. All of them have been qualified between eight and twenty years.

If you feel that we can help you, give us a call on 01924 780753.