September 11th, 2009
A woman from Salisbury is to make a compensation claim after tripping on an uneven pavement and breaking a bone in her foot.
Janet Street, 62, told the Salisbury Journal the incident happened because of a drop of one inch in the level of the pavement in Albany Road.
She claimed that the pavement in the area is in a "very bad way".
"My foot is in plaster and I will not be able to work for the next four to six weeks," Mrs Street added.
The sheltered housing worker is now planning to make a compensation claim and has taken photographs of the pavement where the incident occurred to use as evidence.
A recent series of Freedom of Information requests by the Liberal Democrats revealed the extent of the problem of poorly-maintained pavements in England.
The requests revealed that local authorities paid out £82 million to settle compensation claims related to injuries caused by uneven pavements between 2004 and 2009.
Tags: Albany Road, Compensation Claim, England, Extent, Freedom Of Information, Information Requests, Janet Street, Liberal Democrats, Local Authorities, Pavements, Personal Injury Compensation, Photographs, Plaster, Quot Quot, Salisbury Journal, Sheltered Housing, Six Weeks, Uneven Pavement, Woman
Posted in Personal Injury News | No Comments »
September 8th, 2009
Stockton Borough Council has defended its footpath maintenance regime, despite paying out more than £1 million in compensation to people injured in trips and falls on its pavements in the last five years.
Figures obtained by a Freedom of Information request made by the Liberal Democrats showed that local authorities in England paid out £82 million to settle compensation claims related to accidents caused by the poor condition of pavements between 2004 and 2009.
In Stockton, the council made 26 payments totalling £1.2 million – a significantly higher figure than in neighbouring areas, but well short of the £10.2 million paid by Leeds City Council.
The amount may rise, as Stockton Borough Council is still dealing with a further 67 compensation claims.
A council spokesman told the Darlington & Stockton Times that it had implemented a new pavement maintenance regime in order to reduce the number of accidents.
"That has resulted in a dramatic decrease in claims where compensation was made, from 15 claims in 2004-5 to only one in 2008-9," he said.
Tags: 2m, Accident Compensation, Accidents, Darlington, Dramatic Decrease, Footpath Maintenance, Freedom Of Information, Freedom Of Information Request, Leeds City Council, Liberal Democrats, Local Authorities In England, Neighbouring Areas, Pavement Maintenance, Pavements, Quot, Regime, Spokesman, Stockton Borough Council, Stockton Council
Posted in Personal Injury News | No Comments »
September 7th, 2009
Mistakes by NHS staff in prescribing and administering drugs cause moderate or severe harm to more than 220 patients every month, according to a new report.
Figures compiled by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) show that there were 86,085 reported medication mistakes during 2007, although it is believed only around ten per cent of incidents were recorded.
The vast majority of the mistakes resulted in little or no harm to patients. However, 37 patients died as a result of medication incidents, 63 suffered severe harm and 2,710 errors caused moderate harm.
NPSA statistics showed that 41 per cent of the most serious incidents were caused by mistakes in the administration of drugs, while 32 per cent resulted from prescribing mistakes.
Responding to the NPSA’s report, Norman Lamb, health spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, called on NHS officials to ensure systems to protect patient safety are in place.
He added: "Settling claims for damages costs the NHS nearly £1 billion per year, which could be spent on patient care."
Tags: 1 Billion, Administration Of Drugs, Damages, Deaths, Health, Lead, Liberal Democrats, Medication, Medication Mistakes, National Patient Safety, National Patient Safety Agency, Nhs, Norman Lamb, Npsa, Patient Care, Patient Safety Agency, Spokesman, Statistics
Posted in Clinical Negligence News | No Comments »
