A woman, who suffered a fractured spine in an accident at Dublin´s Mater Hospital, has been awarded €58,500 injury compensation for a fall in hospital.
The seventy-nine year old woman from Finglas in Dublin made her claim for injury compensation for a fall in hospital after the events of April 2015 when she visited the Mater Hospital for routine day surgery. The gastroscopy procedure she had been scheduled for went well, but she was left unattended in the recovery unit after the procedure and, while trying to get out of bed, she fell.
The woman suffered a fractured spine as a result of the accident and, rather than return home that evening as she was supposed to, she spent nearly a month in the hospital recovering from her injury. She was then transferred to the Clontarf Hospital in Dublin, where she spent a further three months as an inpatient receiving specialist care in the orthopaedic unit.
Now requiring regular care, the formerly active and independent woman wears a lumbar brace and needs the assistance of a Zimmer frame to walk. After seeking legal advice, she claimed injury compensation for a fall in a hospital against the Mater Hospital, alleging the hospital staff were negligent by failing to monitor her throughout her recovery.
At the Circuit Civil Court, Judge James O´Donohoe heard the woman had been previously hospitalised due to a fall at her home and, aware of this, the hospital should have monitored her at all times in compliance with its falls prevention policy. Unfortunately – according to an expert witness appearing on behalf of the woman – the hospital failed in its duty of care.
Commenting the plaintiff was not the same woman as she had been prior to her accident, Judge O´Donohoe awarded her €58,500 injury compensation for a fall in hospital. He gave the Mater Hospital leave to appeal the decision provided that a payment of €30,000 was made immediately.