This matter involved a retired Western Sydney man who suffered from a major falls, following a partial leg amputation, as a result of negligence at a major Western Sydney Hospital. These falls resulted in severe head trauma and brain damage.
In this case, this man was admitted to a major Western Sydney hospital with osteomyelitis and severe left heel ulcers. It was noted that his ulcer had caused his leg to become necrotic and a below knee amputation which was performed on his left leg. As a result of this he was wheelchair bound however, his lack of proficiency at operating the wheelchair was noted. Furthermore, being an amputee, it was well known that the wheelchair may tip as a result of the uneven weight distribution.
Approximately two weeks following his surgery it was noted that he had a fall during transport to dialysis. Despite the obvious risk of further falls, they nevertheless occurred on basically a weekly basis.
Approximately two months following his surgery and whilst still in rehabilitation in hospital, he was taken outside to the garden and left alone for around 20 minutes. During his time outside he fell backwards on a ramp as a result of the uneven weight distribution. He was found unconscious and alone.
The fall resulted in him hitting his head heavily and causing a large intracranial haemorrhage. Following this haemorrhage he began to exhibit blurred vision, weakness in his limbs with a degree of left sided neglect and a high degree of cognitive and communication difficulties.
Clearly, this fall had occurred after several previous falls at the hospital which has resulted in stroke like symptoms due to the hospital’s neglect. Without any assistance or any admission of fault from the hospital our client and his wife consulted with Gerard Malouf and Partners. We explained to our client’s wife the way in which medical negligence works and the fact that in order to assist with his case he would need to obtain all the clinical notes. This is was to determine whether or not the hospital breached his duty of care by failing to fully appreciate the risk that her husband was likely to fall out of a wheelchair and suffer serious damage.
Our team urgently obtained the opinion of a highly regarded expert nurse, where it was shown that the hospital was in fact negligent in failing to appropriately train and monitor our client with the use of his wheelchair. Ultimately, as a result of this failure, our client suffered a fall which was resulted in major injuries. After this evidence we provided it to the Defendant solicitors and urgently arranged for a mediation to take place. This was to avoid impending expensive of a hearing.
By progressively pursuing this matter and understanding the urgency of which to act on quality medical evidence, our specialist medical negligence team, as well as an expert barrister, sought to negotiate with the Defendant at a mediation and settled this matter for the benefit of our client.
Ultimately this matter went to mediation and settled for over $250,000. Our client was very satisfied with these results and thanked our team for their efforts for taking on his matter and settling it so quickly under such difficult circumstances.
We hope this will assist him with both his and his wife’s moving on with their lives, and we trust that this settlement will assist him increasing his quality of life during the time he requires full time care.
We are specialised and focused medical negligence lawyers with our firm being small enough to care for our client’s but large enough to have solid financial medical and expert resources. For over the phone free advice or to take advantage of our Face to face consultation call with our expert medical negligence team today on our free call number 1800 004 878.
