Forum Discussion
Should I take this further?
Hi there everybody, I would like your opinions please. A bit of a back story first, then the event in question. I have finished chemo and had a bilateral mastectomy. I also have other preexisting medical conditions, the total result of all, is that I now use a wheelie walker for stability and (ha ha) safety. I was getting physio and also hydrotherapy for a very stiff left shoulder where the pectoral muscle had shortened and tightened. In the process of having this therapy, my right shoulder went apeshit. Turns out to be the painful stage of adhesive capsulitis, also known as frozen shoulder. So now, therapy for both stuffed up shoulders...yayyy!!!. Off I go for my physio last Tuesday. Finish physio, now headed to the car. my husband ended up parking elsewhere than prearranged, so he had come to the physio department looking for me, but I had already finished so he was walking some distance behind me and saw it all. There was me...tootling along....down a slight slope..and at the bottom was a tank trap!!! The wheel of my walker got trapped in the drain (set into the concrete). Walker stopped, I kept going...right over the top. My hubby said it was like the Grand National...all he saw was my bum and my legs in mid air. Then he heard the crunch and the howls from me. Rushed to emergency...yippee... Because I.m on Clexane (blood thinners), twice daily for the past year, and will be for the rest of my life, they had to do a head ct to make sure I didn't have a brain bleed. (Wrong place to check, would have needed a proctoscope for that, but I digress as usual). Brain (ostensibly) all good. Five stitches in my head, landed of the worst of the two bad shoulders and did a rib on the right side too (thanks to osteoporosis). Kept the other broken ribs company which I already had. Was kept in hospital from the Tuesday and discharged on the Sunday. Missed my Herceptin and oncologist appointment which I was supposed to have on that Wednesday. So, Herceptin late by five days, which had me more hopping mad, (well twitching mad was the best I could do). Am I being unreasonable in my expectations that I should be able to use my walker on hospital property, on an approved walkway, in a responsible manner? I was not taking a shortcut across the car park. or doing a cross country walk over uneven ground. Evidently to make any sort of claim, I would have to prove negligence on the part of the hospital. I do not believe for one minute, that in the forty so (or thereabout) years that this drain has been there, that someone else pushing a sweety trolley for the Pink Ladies, or a trolley with some medical equipment, linen trolley, theatre trolley, wheelchair or walker has not been caught in this drain before. I did actually see the drain, I just did not see the slots in in until it was too late. The pictures show the grate the evening of the event, and the ones sprayed yellow were afterwards, when the hospital sprayed them. The other photo shows the slope and position of the drain. I had no option but to go over it.
30 Replies
- Glad to hear you are now on the onwards and upwards,I do hope that you have kept a photographic record of all of this and that you took the advice of seeing a solicitor, even a phone call to one would give you peace of mind as to what they will or will not be able to do, the fact that you had to spend so many days in the hospital is more than enough grounds for taking this further,good luck!! please keep us informed of how things progress,and I have taken your advice, never let your hubby or partner pack your case, I have a prepacked case in the bedroom ready to go if I ever need it!
wendy55 - Hi there @Summerhill38 . I have sent a formal letter and am now on day 21 after the fall...still waiting for their response. My head wound just has me looking like rather a befuddled Frankenstein, just need a couple of bolts on either side of my head, and I'll be good to go!. The ribs are a bit better, I can at least breathe properly and am not just puffing at the top. The shoulder, well, it is still extremely painful to move, and the entire arm is cramping because it's not being moved. Aside from all that, things are improving, so onwards and upwards.
- Hi @AllyJay
It is probably too early in their 35 days to respond to your complaint but am wondering if you have heard ?
Hope your injuries are healing well.
Summer :) - You were injured through no fault of your own. You totally have a case and a right to be compensated for your pain and suffering. It was not unforseeablen and you shouldn't waste your time trying to get them to respond to your concerns. What gets them to jump into action is a pending court case. If you want to claim, get a lawyer you're comfortable with and they will take it from there. The first consultation is usually free, just ask. They will tell you exactly the steps you need to go through including who to talk to. They will also give you an idea of payout figure. It may take up to a year and will probably be settled out of court. Lawyers will tell you up front what percentage they get of your settlement fee. You may get several letters from the hospital or health dept saying they are not going to pay, they may even say you are at fault. Pay them no mind as this is standard procedure. Once they know there is a claim pending they will make sure to replace the drain as a court case costs more than a drain. Hope you feel better soon.
- And rememeber too they won’t apologise or send you flowers as that will then make them liable as they have admitted it’s there fault. (Which it is). So that won’t happen. Good luck with it all. Margie.
- Go back to her and complete the incident form that is compulsory she is bullshitting you there. She should of have some documentation in your notes regarding her visit with you and the maintenance dept and OHS would of also needed to document what they’d seen and done. And you have the right to your information. I’d be getting some legal advice too (no win no fee lawyer perhaps). Like I said get the release of records form done from your gp requesting all of your notes and results etc from your stay and then you can see what was documented. Wait and get the letter back about the complaint you made and then you will have a response to go on. I’d also go speak with your local paper and make it public if you aren’t happy with the response you get and member of parliament. I’d be writing down every call you make and the response you get and keeping copies of any correspondence you have from them. They will just want you to go away. So stay strong and pursue it if you can. Margie x
- Hi there @onemargie , so far the story is this. The morning after the fall, I asked to see the Patient Representative Officer. She came to my bed a couple of hours later, when I told her what had happened. She expressed her concern and said that she would go and look at the drain herself, and would return later. (She did jot down things in a note book as we spoke). Later that afternoon, she returned looking very frazzled. She said that she had seen the drain and had the called other staff to go with her to do the same. Some sort of Maintenance person as well as I believe someone to do with Health and Safety. Apparently, one of these other persons made a comment along the lines of "Oh my word, this is an accident waiting to happen...it's a miracle this hasn't happened before". Instant enquiries were then made about replacing this drain cover, but they were told it would take three weeks to arrive. The decision was then made to spray the cover yellow in the meantime, to make it more visible.I then asked if I had to write down my complaint, and she said that given my pain (excruciating), it was not necessary, as she had all the details written down herself. After getting home, five days later, the initial shock had worn off and I attempted to get something more out of Management regarding this event. Nobody from further up the food chain ever visited me, sent a card, or even a miserable carnation stuffed into an empty Coke bottle, by way of an apology for the hospital's neglect of my safety. As it happens, very bad and rude treatment by one (only one mind you), of their nurses pushed me over the edge. She had treated me like some sort of nuisance who was taking up a valuable bed which was need by other patients far more ill than myself. I pointed out to her that I wouldn't have been in her precious bed had it not been for the dangerous drain in her hospital. I took that matter further to the Unit Manager and I believe she was "counselled". I have subsequently tried to get the names or positions of these other persons who went with her to see the drain, specifically the one who made the comment, but have been told that that was not possible. I have been told that they have 35 days to respond to the complaint, and that basically, I should just sit in the corner like a good girl, and shut up until that time. Thirty five days for the steam to build up...good luck to them when it eventually escapes!!
- Sorry release of records form I meant
- Hi there @AllyJay. I work as a nurse and have just remembered to ask you something. Did you fill out an incident form when you had your fall...... these are compulsory and will be the evidence you need to take to the solicitor for advice. You can also get your gp to request all your notes and investigations from your fall too so you can see exactly what was documented. That’s called a release of re rods form and you just simply sign it and it gets faxed to the hospital and they then send all the ward notes bloods scans etc that were done to the gp. As marg said there would be an OHS person at the hospital responsible for investigating your accident so keep persisting it’s not good enough for sure. Margie. Xx
- Hi sorry to hear of your accident
All goverment department have accident forms that should be accessible they are available..there is a duty of care due diligence has not occcurred....make an appointment to see relevant person asap
Best of luck B
