A senior prison officer, who was working in the Segregation Unit at HMP Swaleside in Kent’s Eastchurch, has finally received compensation following being forced out of his job due to a violent attack by an inmate.  Iain Fleming suffered horrendous physical injuries as well as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) whilst working in the canteen.  An inmate lunged at one of his colleagues brandishing two sharpened plastic knives, and attempted to stab him in the head.  Mr Fleming rushed to restrain the inmate and found himself instead being stabbed and attacked.  The inmate stabbed the officer five times, and at one point tried to gouge out his eye.  He sustained stab wounds to his eye, head, arms, shoulder and chest.  In the months that followed, he also developed PTSD.  The officer managed to fight off the symptoms of the PTSD over time, however the injury sustained to his shoulder was so severe that he was unable to return to work as a prison officer.

A 60-year-old Salisbury man, originally from Sardinia in Italy, has received a six figure sum in compensation for developing the fatal disease, mesothelioma whilst working as a chef.  Mr Luigi Pes had moved to Britain, aged 31, in 1982.  He had been working for La Gondola Italian Restaurant in Fisherton Street in Salisbury where he was exposed to asbestos from the seals on the pizza oven and in the store room ceiling.  Mr Pes was not warned by his employers about the dangers that working with asbestos could pose to his health.  When he sought medical advice about a long-term chest infection, it was found that he had contracted the asbestos related disease.  Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer affecting the lining of the lungs.

A couple from Leeds have been awarded compensation following a head on collision whilst on tour in Italy.  The couple, Angela and Simon Howland, were on the holiday of a lifetime, cruising the Mediterranean when the collision occurred.  Their tour bus was travelling between Sorrento and Pompeii and was travelling through a tunnel when it was forced to swerve to avoid a head on collision with another vehicle.   The bus, which was transporting tourists from the cruise, then crashed into the tunnel wall causing substantial personal injury to the driver and many of the passengers.  The driver of the on-coming vehicle was killed at the scene.

A talented chef, who was serving in the British army, sustained injuries that were so severe he can no longer work within his trade.  Hopewell Marindire, from Kettering, had been posted to Sennerlager training camp in Germany where he had been working in below freezing temperatures.  He developed a condition known as ‘non freezing cold injury’ which caused him numbness, permanent intolerance to cold temperatures, damage to tissues and in considerable pain.  The chef, who was originally from Zimbabwe, had been working in conditions as low as 14 degrees Celsius wearing nothing more than standard issue cotton socks and leather boots on his feet.  This was despite the fact that it is well know within the military that soldiers of African origin are more susceptible to injuries caused by cold weather.

A claimant has won £5,000 in compensation after sustaining burns to her arms and legs after receiving hair removal laser treatment.  The woman had gone to a beauty salon to have several areas of her body lasered, including her lower legs and arms, which left her with visible burn marks upon completion of the treatment.  It was subsequently discovered that the beautician carrying out the treatment had turned the power of the laser too high, resulting in the burns.

The Scottish Government has pledged £20 million in funding for the victims of the NHS blood transfusion scandal.

A former pipefitter who approached his union following a diagnosis of the incurable lung disease, asbestosis, has been awarded compensation after winning his claim against a former employer.  64-year-old Michael Adcock developed the disease after having worked for 18 years for a Leicestershire engineering company refurbishing boilers that had asbestos in their insulation.  As part of his job, Mr Adcock had to remove insulation from boilers manually which caused asbestos dust to be in the air and then settle on his skin, hair and clothing.  It was learned that he had worked at the company for four years before being offered any protection for breathing in the dust or protective clothing.

Mesothelioma is a devastating disease. It is a highly aggressive form of cancer most commonly found in men who have been exposed to asbestos throughout their working life. The condition is contracted by breathing asbestos fibres into the lungs. The microscopic asbestos fibres aggravate the cells of the lungs and cause them to mutate into cancerous cells. Mesothelioma usually affects the lungs but can also be found in the stomach.

Mesothelioma rates are increasing year on year, and a recent case has demonstrated the wide-reaching harm that asbestos can cause.

An investigation carried out under the Freedom of Information act, has revealed that one in five of the radiotherapy machines being used in hospitals throughout England, are past their scrappage date.  The European Society of Radiology recommends that in order to keep up with advances in technology and offer the best treatment possible, machines should not operate for more than 10 years.  Older machines can be putting patients at serious risk, according to the report, as lack of precision can be creating serious side effects that could cause irreversible harm.

Manufacturer, Whirlpool UK Appliances Ltd, have been ordered to supply information regarding any known problems with a tumble dryer which ignited in a flat in Llanrwst killing two people.  39-year-old Doug McTavish and 19-year-old Bernard Hender lost their lives when the dryer caught fire in the early hours of the morning of 1 October 2014.  Attending a pre-inquest review in Ruthin on Monday was Garry Lloyd Jones who was the sole survivor of the fire.  Mr Lloyd Jones, a funeral director from the Conwy Valley, was Mr Hender’s partner and Mr McTavish’s business partner.  The hearing was also attended by representatives of Whirlpool.

A 33-year-old Yorkshire man has been rushed to hospital following a vicious attack in the Gleadless area yesterday afternoon.  Police were called to the area when it was reported that a Staffordshire bull terrier-crossbreed dog had mauled the man, who is as yet unnamed, inflicting injuries that a neighbour described as “terrible”.  He said: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life”.   The victim has sustained serious injuries to his neck and was rushed to hospital where his condition is being described as critical.

Cumbrian woman, Kathleen Bellas, 54, from Shap was killed outright on 12 January by a foreign driver driving on the wrong side of the road.  Carlisle Crown Court heard how Ms Bellas’ Ford Focus collided with a lorry in an early morning road crash, and 52-year-old Adam Rybicki admits that he was in the wrong.  The collision took place on the A6.

North Bristol NHS Trust’s Bristol Southmead Hospital has been fined £1.2 million for consistently failing to achieve NHS targets to carry out specialist spinal surgery.  The NHS requires that patients requiring specialist spinal surgery should be treated within 18 weeks, however Bristol Southmead Hospital was found to be keeping patients waiting for more than a year.  The hospital has acknowledged the problem and stated that increased referral numbers coupled with a lack of specialist staff was the cause of the problem.

Since it was closed in September of last year, patients of Bootham Park adult mental health unit in York have been travelling 50 miles to Roseberry Park in Middlesbrough to receive medical care.  The unit was closed very suddenly in September following an unannounced visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) when it was found that patients were at “significant risk of harm”.  The unit was given five days to close its doors, and since hundreds of vulnerable patients have been left with no assurances about their future care.  Bootham Park was York’s only psychiatric hospital.

Support worker Rachel Portsmouth has been found guilty of placing her hands around the neck of 20-year-old Chante Johnson and of hitting her with a slipper.  Chante who has special needs and requires 24 hour care is a resident at Pegasus School, in Caldwell.  She suffers from severe autism and has great difficulty communicating.  She has no decision making capacity and a very limited awareness of danger.  She can also be prone to violent outbursts.  The offence took place on 21 February 2015.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has asked a senior NHS expert to look into concerns raised following the diagnosis of lung disease in ex-mineworkers.  The concerns were raised when the Union of Democratic Mineworkers paid for 2 redundant ex-miners to have CT scans of their lungs privately.  It was discovered that both miners from Nottinghamshire were suffering from pneumoconiosis despite previous X-rays in 2013 coming back marked as “satisfactory”.  The union is now calling for all former miners to get CT scans following the results of Ray Nunn and Crawford Hunter, both aged 51.

Services at Wye Valley NHS Trust Hereford Hospital have been found to be “inadequate” upon inspection by the Trust Development Authority in October 2014.  The inspection resulted in the hospital being placed in special measures, stating that particular concern was raised to medical care and emergency services.  In February of 2015 an improvement director was appointed by the Trust and a further announced inspection took place in September of 2015.  Yet a further inspection, this time unannounced, was carried out at the end of September and focus groups were held to discuss the areas of improvement required.

For over 150 years, district nurses have been supporting people in their own homes, keeping them out of hospital.  Official figures are showing, however, that the number of district nurses has fallen by 40% in the past 10 years.  The Health and Social Care Information Centre has reported that where a decade ago there were around 13000 district nurses working for the NHS in England, there are now fewer than 7500, many of whom are close to retirement age.  At the same time, the pressure on hospital accident and emergency departments is increasing, with attendances rising by approximately 50% in the past 10 years.  Nursing leaders are describing NHS community nursing in England as “lamentable”.

The Telegraph is warning skiers about the dangers of going on holiday without adequate insurance.  Injury sustained whilst skiing or snowboarding tends to be serious, such as broken bones, dislocations and damage to ligaments and with many ski resorts being in remote locations, the price of emergency medical transport can be extremely high.  The price of being caught without insurance, particularly in the US, can be exceptionally high and consideration must be given to personal liability, lost equipment, ski passes, lost days due to inclement weather as well as medical coverage.