Latest News Articles from Balindaandco.com

£4.2 million personal injury compensation awarded to Brain damaged man

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Christopher Kaye, 57, has recently received a £4.2 million payout after he suffered personal injury in a work accident.

At the time of the incident, Mr Kaye was working as a demolition worker for Euro Dismantling Services Ltd. He was replacing an excavator attachment when he was hit in the face by a metal bar that had become dislodged.

Following the accident, Mr Kaye was rushed to Sheffield Hospital where he underwent a life saving operation, but the injuries to his brain were so severe that he now has severe brain damage.

Mr Kaye’s solicitors claimed that he had not received adequate training and that the company only brought in safety equipment after the accident had occurred. His solicitors said that the accident could easily have been avoided if better training and safety equipment had been in place.

Euro Dismantling Services Ltd accepted 90% liability for the incident and Mr Kaye will now receive a £1.75 million lump sum payment as well as £135,000 annual personal injury compensation payments to pay for continuing round the clock care.

Sue Kaye, the wife of the victim, said that her husband will never fully recover from the accident and no amount of money can bring back the loving husband she has had for 32 years.

Pothole Claim For Compensation By A Mum After Daughter Tripped And Suffered Injuries On Road

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Donna Taylor is pursuing a pothole claim for compensation after her daughter sustained injuries when she tripped on the road. Ms Taylor’s daughter suffered bruising and swelling as a result of the fall caused by a pothole in the road.

Ms Taylor insisted that South Tyneside Council had been previously warned about the danger of up to eight potholes in the road, but had failed to do anything about it.

Ms Taylor is now launching a legal action against the council on behalf of her daughter Levy. She said her daughter luckily escaped with only bruising to her left hip and swelling to her right knee but it could have been much worse. She expressed her concern about the impact that a fall could have on elderly people.

A local resident, who helped Ms Taylor’s daughter Levy, said the potholes had been reported to the council weeks earlier. It’s clear they were a danger and should have been filled in.

Ms Taylor’s daughter received treatment from an ambulance after the incident and she will now pursue a claim for compensation against South Tyneside Council.

The potholes have since been filled in and South Tyneside Council have confirmed that the claim is now in the hands of the insurance team.

Doctor’s Negligence: Couple awarded five figure compensation after doctor’s mistake

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A couple have been awarded a five-figure medical negligence payout after surgeons forgot to remove a breathing tube which was inserted into their new born baby son.

When Owen Thomas was born in February 2007, one of his shoulders became stuck during his birth, and he wasn’t breathing. As a result surgeons inserted a breathing tube to save his life.

A week later, the baby coughed up the tube which had been left inside him following the oversight by hospital staff.

The couple won their compensation claim against Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and has been awarded compensation.

Owen, who is now 5, was not permanently injured by the incident. However, his mother believes he would have died if she had not been there at the time.

Mrs Thomas said when Owen was 10 days old, her husband and a friend were visiting her in the specialist care unit at Stafford Hospital, Owen turned blue and looked like he was choking. So she slapped him on the back and a tube came out.

“The nurse took him off me and gave him oxygen as well as checking him over.”

£7,500 personal injury compensation following a golf ball injury

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A 40-year-old woman golfer has been awarded £7,500 in personal injury compensation after sustaining severe injuries whilst leaving a golf course in Staffordshire.

Burton-upon-Trent Magistrates' Court heard how the woman was walking along a footpath towards the car park of the golf club when she was hit in the face by a golf ball which had been hit from the club's driving range.

The accident left the woman with several broken teeth, serious facial lacerations and bruising. She was taken to hospital for treatment and was forced to take a week off work to recover from her injuries.

An investigation into the incident found that the fence surrounding the driving range was not high enough and contained holes large enough for a golf ball to get through.

In court, the golf club admitted to breaching Health and Safety laws. As a result of the accident the Golf club was fined over £5,000 and ordered to pay the injured woman £7,500 in personal injury compensation.

A Cyclists Receives Substantial Personal Injury Pay Out.

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A High Court has awarded substantial compensation to a 28 year old man following a motorcycle accident in 2005 which almost cost him his life.

David Scott Buchan suffered facial and brain injuries in the incident when his motorcycle collided with an oncoming car. As a result of the accident, Mr Buchan needed a titanium plate inserted into his face.

He also sustained damage to his ribs and spine, and suffered long term depression, fatigue, anxiety along with impaired sight, taste, and smell.

Mr Buchan has been unable to return to work following the accident due to his injuries; however he is able to walk with the help of a stick and lives with his mother.

The High Court judge praised the devotion of his mother, Ann, who has looked after him since the accident.

The settlement will pay for Mr Buchan’s future care and compensate him for what has happened.

Mr Buchan’s mother refused to accept any payment for the care she had given her son and preferred it to go to her son’s future care costs. Mr Buchan wants to use the money to assist with his bid to live independently.

Woman Wins Over £100,000 Compensation In A Medical negligence Claim

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Margaret Peabody has won over £100,000 in compensation following a routine hip operation that went wrong and left her permanently disabled.

Mrs Peabody, 51, was suffering from painful osteoarthritis and, in 2008, underwent an operation at the St Cross Hospital in Rugby to resurface her hip. She was told beforehand that it was a simple procedure which the surgeon had performed thousands of times before.

After the operation, the surgeon admitted that he had accidentally cut through her nerve. When the anaesthetic wore off, Mrs Peabody discovered that she had no feeling in her right leg.

Mrs Peabody was initially told that it would take 18 months for her to recover. However, it later became apparent that she would be permanently disabled. In the months following the operation, she hardly moved from her bedroom. She eventually learned to walk again but remains seriously disabled. She has had to give up her dream of starting a business and now finds it difficult to leave the house.

She brought a claim against the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. The Trust admitted liability for Mrs Peabody’s injuries, agreeing that surgeons should have taken more care in protecting Mrs Peabody’s nerve.

Construction Worker Awarded Millions for Scaffolding Fall

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A 38 year old construction worker who was seriously injured in a fall at work has secured a compensation package worth millions of pounds.

The construction worker was working for Laing O’Rourke Construction Ltd. at a hospital in Newcastle. A scaffolding platform was unsecured and he fell 80 feet, shattering his legs and suffering life-changing head injuries. It is believed that the fact that he was working at a hospital may have saved his life as doctors were on hand to give him immediate medical attention.

A claim was brought against the construction company and a settlement agreed with the company’s insurers. The settlement composed of a one-off payment of £2 million and index-linked annual payments calculated to take into account the increasing cost of his care provision. The payments will begin at £65,000 per year when he reaches age 45. The payment will then increase to £105,000 at age 55 and £150,000 a year by retirement age.

The settlement has been officially approved by the High Court. The Court heard that the man’s medical treatment is ongoing and it is likely that he will at some point need to have one or both legs amputated below the knee.

8000 Patients Killed As A result Of Medical Neglingence

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The Telegraph has recently reported how 8000 patients have been killed, in the last 13 years, due to medical blunders by NHS medical professionals.

It was reported that the number of NHS claims have risen by 300% in recent years with figures of 223 deaths in 1997-1998 up by an astonishing 903 in 2009-2010.

Experts are suggesting that the number of patients who have died as a result of medical negligence in the NHS is actually higher than 8000 but many families will not have pursued legal action.

The 8000 claims reported relate to only clinical negligence claims handled by the National Health Service Litigation Authority. Therefore, the number of claims against the NHS through private solicitors hasn’t even been accounted for in this figure.

It is believed that the figure for 2010-2011 is much higher. Conservative MP, Chris Skidmore uncovered the latest figures, asserting that such levels of poor care would not be tolerated again in the future. He said that more must be done to improve patient care, particularly of the elderly and vulnerable.

The figures indicate some of Britain’s worst hospital scandals, including the 1200 deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust which were due to placing cost-cutting ahead of care.

Further more, investigations at Furness General Hospital in Cumbria are underway after the death of 7 mothers and babies from April to November 2008.

The Coalition government are proposing to send in hit squads to care homes to help eliminate neglect of the elderly. There are also proposals to spot check hospitals and centres for people with learning difficulties. Whether these plans materialise, remains to be seen.

Father Claims £300,000 Compensation For Daughter’s Double Amputation

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Mr Hou Chun Lin is making a claim against Peterborough NHS Trust after medical blunders led to his daughter having to have both legs amputated.

Mr Lin, who speaks very little English, says that he pleaded with a doctor to admit his baby daughter Miki Lin Gao to hospital in February 2006 but was told to go home and give her paracetemol.

Mr Lin took his 10 month old daughter to see the family GP on February 16th 2006 because she was suffering from a cough and a cold. Over the next week her condition severely worsened and she developed a high temperature and fits of shivering.

On 23rd February Mr Lin took Miki to the Hospital’s A&E Department where he begged a Dr Ma to treat his baby daughter. The Doctor rejected his plea and told him to go home and give Miki paracetemol.

The following day Mr Lin took his daughter back to hospital but medics asked him to leave the department. Later that day, he again took her back to the hospital handing a note to a nurse and a consultant paediatrician named Dr Woolf stating ‘please save my daughter.’ It became apparent that Miki was suffering from a skin condition and was finally admitted to hospital.

By the time Miki was attended to, she was experiencing septicaemic shock, a bleeding disorder and multi-organ failure. Due to severe internal damage, her legs could not be saved and both legs had to be amputated.
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Mr Lin is now suing Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of his daughter, who is now six, for compensation which is believed to be in the region of £300,000.

Mr Lin is basing his claim for compensation on the fact that had she been admitted to hospital at an earlier stage she would have been prescribed antibiotics, giving her body a chance to fight the infection and make a full recovery.

A spokeswoman for the trust confirmed that Mr Lin had commenced legal action but declined to make any further comment.

Police Pay Out £45,896 In Compensation To Staff For Personal Injury

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Recent figures released have revealed that Bedfordshire Police has paid £45,894 to staff for personal injuries sustained while at work since 2006.

£10,000 compensation was paid to one female crime officer who hit her head after the back of her chair snapped. The incident, involving the officer, happened in 2003 but the case was not closed or money paid out until 2007.

Another police officer received £5,000 personal injury compensation after the officer was injured following a slip and fall accident on a wet patch in a toilet.

Another incident involved an investigation officer who was injured when a handrail came loose causing the officer to fall down the stairs. The investigation officer received £7300 compensation for the accident at work.

Other incidents involved an officer who burnt his hands while on a training course, another officer who received a knee injury after he lost control of a vehicle approaching a corner, and another police officer who put his hand through a pane of glass. They received between £1600 and £4,875 in personal injury compensation.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said that any work-related accidents involving members of staff were considered by their insurance company and an investigator who judged the incidents on an individual basis.