Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Compensation Claim for Workplace Assault
17th August 2007
This case involved a nursing assistant who was assaulted at work by a psychiatric patient, due to the negligence of her employer. Our expert lawyers, specialists in personal injury claims of this nature, were able to recover compensation on her behalf.
Injured at Work
At the time of the incident, the claimant was working in one of the wards at a general hospital, within the psychiatric unit. Two affray alarms went off involving the same patient and the claimant responded to each of these in the course of her duties.
On both occasions, the claimant played cards with the patient afterwards, however the second time he punched her in the face forcefully. She felt that the incident was the fault of her employer, as she did not have sufficient information about the assailant to carry out her role safely.
Employer’s Liability Claim
The claimant appointed our specialist personal injury solicitors to act on her behalf in a compensation claim.
The Judge was satisfied that adequate risk assessments of the assailant had been carried out and that staffing levels were sufficient. The evidence also showed that the hospital could not be criticised for keeping the assailant in his regular ward, rather than an isolation ward, as the risk could be managed with certain medication to stabilise his condition.
Despite this however, the Judge found in favour of the claimant for various reasons. As an occasional visitor to the ward, she did not have comprehensive information about the assailant and his specific requirements and tendencies. For example she was unaware that he had been involved in 49 violent incidents within the past 26 days and did not know that he was more anxious around unfamiliar staff.
There was no system in place at the hospital for keeping occasional visitors, such as those assisting in affray alarms, informed about particular patients. It was therefore concluded that they failed to effectively communicate sufficient information to her and she would not have acted in the same way had she been informed. This was supported by evidence from the patient’s regular nurses that they would not have got so close to him in the same situation.
Workplace Injury Claims
If you have been injured at work, whether as the result of an accident or an assault, you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim if someone else’s negligence was to blame.
Contact The Legal Line for cost free, sympathetic advice and assistance on 0800 0328511, or by completing an online claim enquiry form.
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