A hospital trust has agreed to pay an £18,000 out-of-court settlement to the family of an elderly woman who never returned home after suffering a fall and breaking her hip.
The woman, in her late 90s, had only been in hospital for a day, having being admitted with a minor infection and sickness, when she suffered the fall.
Staff had been made aware that she was confused and needed assistance with walking. She was subsequently moved to a side room and it was clearly indicated that her bed rails be placed in an upright position to prevent any falls.
However, the sides were left down the following day, and that evening she was found on the floor near the room, having got out of bed alone to use the toilet. She had suffered a fall and broken her hip, which required surgery. She then went on to develop a pressure sore during her hospital admission.
The injury impacted on her mobility and meant she was unable to return home to her son and his wife, who she had lived with for more than a year, as she needed specialist care after being discharged. This care was required for the rest of her life.
Sadly, she died seven months after the accident, having never regained her mobility.
Legal case alleged negligence
As part of a legal case led by Hudgell Solicitors, it was alleged the hospital trust had breached its duty of care in failing to adequately assess the patient’s risk of falls, and take appropriate action to prevent such an injury happening.
Litigation Executive Kirsty Yates, who led the case on behalf of the woman’s family, said: “Hospitals have very clear procedures to follow when patients are admitted who are known to be vulnerable, confused and frail on their feet.
“In this case this elderly lady was known to suffer from confusion, and it was also understood that, under no circumstances should she be left to walk and wander without assistance.
“We felt it inappropriate that she was placed in a room which could not be directly viewed from the nurses’ station. There were also failures to ensure the bed rails were always in use, and no alarm system appeared to be in place, which would have alerted staff to her getting out of bed.
“These are all basic measures which should be taken to protect vulnerable and elderly people from harm in the hospital environment.
“Tragically, she was due to be discharged to go back home to her family that day, but this fall meant that never happened, and she never went home at all as she had to spend the last months of her life in care.”
Son made compensation claim as cost of care ran into thousands
The woman’s son, himself 75, said he appreciated hospital wards were often stretched and that nurses work ‘incredibly hard’, but said he felt he needed to take legal action because of the impact the fall had on the end of his mother’s life, and he and his wife financially.
“My mum went into hospital with a minor infection and never came home. That was obviously very upsetting as we’d taken the decision a year or so earlier, when it became apparent she could no longer live independently, that we’d care for her, and that she’d be with us. We had some professional help a couple of days a week, but the rest we did ourselves,” he said.
“For her to go into hospital with a minor infection and never come home because of a fall is hard to accept. When she broke her hip it made it impossible for me and my wife to look after her and we had to put her into care.
“That came at a huge cost, which thankfully the legal case has covered. I didn’t want any retribution, but I did want to cover that significant cost of placing my mother in care, as we’d always planned to look after her ourselves, and what happened to her shouldn’t have.
“My mum was always an active woman. She was still out cycling until well into her eighties, and my parents ran a newsagents and a pub in their younger years, so they were well known.
“Kirsty Yates was excellent throughout. She handled the case very professionally and kept us fully informed of what was happening every step of the way.”
Making a medical negligence claim
No matter how high the standards of care and treatment in our health services, things can sometimes go wrong.
Medical negligence occurs if you receive substandard treatment by a medical professional, whether that’s directly causing an injury, or making an injury or condition worse.
Medical negligence can also happen if you are misdiagnosed, receive the wrong treatment, or a mistake is made during surgery.
No win no fee medical negligence solicitors
If you think you or someone you care about has suffered an injury or illness, or if medical negligence has worsened an existing condition, get in touch with our no win no fee medical negligence specialists. Our no win no fee agreement means you’ll only pay a set percentage of your compensation if your case is successful.
