Case Study 1

Peter was a Polish nurse who had recently arrived in the UK. He took a job with a nursing home as a care assistant. He had no training in his new job and no equipment was provided for lifting.

On 8th November 2004 he was asked by the manager to move a resident who weighed 18 stone from his bed to a wheelchair. He asked the manager if a colleague could help but was told that no-one was available.

Peter tried to move the patient and as he did felt a sharp pain in his lower back. An ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital.

Peter was unable to work for three months following the accident and was not paid during that time. His girlfriend had to help him get dressed and get out of bed in the morning.

Peter contacted MyClaim to find out if he could make a personal injury claim against his employers. We felt that his employers were responsible for his accident under employer liability laws. They had breached various health and safety regulations by not providing him with proper equipment or training and failing to assess the risk to his health of lifting heavy patients. We wrote to his employers stating why we felt they were to blame and their insurers soon wrote to us accepting liability.

We arranged for Peter to see a back specialist who recommended that he undergo surgery. Although this operation was available on the NHS there was a long waiting list. Peter had the operation privately.

Peter’s accident compensation case was settled at the end of 2005 for £20,000. This included compensation for his lost earnings, the cost of having the operation privately, the care given to him by his girlfriend as well as compensation for the personal injury itself. Peter was delighted with his settlement and was pleased with the support that we were able to give him during the process, in particular the way we were able to reassure him that he would not lose his job just because he was making a personal injury claim against his employers.

Peter is now back at work and fully fit.

To find out if you could make a claim like Peter's, simply call our freephone number or complete the online enquiry form NOW for totally confidential, free, no-obligation, expert advice.