A Local Woman Fractured her Spine Falling in a Hospital

As a woman in her forties was leaving Northern General Hospital she tripped and fell over a matt, landing badly. The mat had ridden up on top of another, which has caused it to become a trip hazard.

As a woman in her forties was leaving Northern General Hospital she tripped and fell over a matt, landing badly. The mat had ridden up on top of another, which has caused it to become a trip hazard. Indeed, only a few hours earlier another patient had fallen in the exact same spot, but nothing had been done about the matts.

When she fell she fractured a vertebra in her spine. She was not a well woman anyway because of a kidney condition which meant that she had to have dialysis. As a consequence of her illness, as is common in hospitals, she simply did not pick her feet up very high when she walked, and as such was at a higher risk of falling.

Most fractured vertebrae will heal up perfectly well without any long term consequences. However, 18 months later she was still having to medicate with painkillers in order to deal with the pain.

Thankfully, Liddys Solicitors were approached within days of the initial accident.  We sent a letter to the hospital asking them to preserve any CCTV footage and visited the hospital on the next day to inspect where she fell.

We wrote a letter of claim to the hospital, who admitted liability very quickly.  We then arranged for her to see a pain management specialist and an occupational therapist.  Damages of £22,000 were agreed within twelve months of the accident to cover damages for her injuries and for further aids and adaptations which would help her cope with her injury.

Liddys Solicitors deal with road traffic accidents, accidents at work, trips and slips and claims against hospitals and GPs.  We take pride in concentrating not just on the level of damages, but improving a client’s life by obtaining rehab treatment and aids and adaptations to help a client to cope with their injury in the long term.

All of our solicitors have been qualified for between eight and twenty years.

If you think we can help, please give us a call for a no obligation chat on 01924 780753.