we would like to thank you very much for all your hard work dealing with our case, it was very much appreciated. We were glad that we held out and not took the first offer - it was well worth the wait.

Patient bleeds to death after falling from bed in hospital

Stuart was cycling home from work when he was knocked off his bike by a car.  He sustained serious head injuries and injuries to his leg, and spent a lengthy period in hospital in a rehabilitation unit. As a result of his head injury, Stuart was confused and at an increased risk of falling from bed.

Stuart was discharged but re-admitted shortly afterwards to undergo a bypass graft procedure.  However, the hospital failed to make sure the cot sides were put up on his bed and he fell out of bed on several occasions.  Stuart fell out of bed again, but this time injured his nose which bled profusely for several hours.  The doctors failed to stem the flow of blood, and didn’t carry out a blood transfusion.  Sadly, Stuart died later that day from severe blood loss.

The family pursued a claim against both the driver of the vehicle and the hospital, both of whom had caused or contributed to Stuart’s death. The family were awarded compensation, and the hospital admitted that they had breached their duty of care to Stuart.

Lawyer involved in this case

back