Personal Injury Claims Bristol Blog

A report has revealed that there are three times as many hospital admissions for dog bites in England’s most deprived areas than in the least. The report was released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, which showed Merseyside to have the highest rate of dog attacks, accounting for 6,740 admissions - a figure up 6% on the previous year.  It also highlighted children to be the most common victims.

A footballer with a promising future has been awarded £10million in compensation following a road traffic accident.  17-year-old Jack Farrugia had been a front seat passenger of car when the driver lost control and collided with a stationary van.  He had been wearing a seatbelt when the accident happened in November 2008, but was left with serious brain injuries and was in a coma for a month.

After a gate was found to be potentially dangerous by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report in 2004, a young boy has lost three fingertips in the gate described as a “guillotine”.  The six-year-old boy, who suffered with learning difficulties, got his hand trapped in the hinges of the gate, cutting off three of his fingertips.  Salford City Council has been fined £20,000 for the accident that happened at Springwood Special Educational Needs Primary School in Swinton.

The family of a girl who was left severely brain damaged after an operation has finally been awarded compensation following a twenty-year battle.  Nathalie Sugden was left with serious brain damage as a result of failures during a heart operation at Bristol Royal Infirmary.  The operation was carried out a month after her birth, August 1994, by a surgeon who was struck off for incompetence by the GMC following the failed operation.

A Gloucestershire family is currently seeking compensation for their 15-year-old son after he suffered severe injuries when his bike went into a pothole during a charity ride.  Ollie Pike, from Malmesbury in Wiltshire, smashed his head and broke his collarbone in the accident on the 9^th of March.  He said that he swerved to avoid one set of potholes, but as a result went crashing into another.  He was then thrown to the ground after being propelled over his handlebars.

With a newly proposed plan to save money by reducing “weekend park duties” in Brighton and Hove, the GMB union has argued that this will greatly increase the number of accident and compensation claims made on behalf of injured children. Brighton and Hove City Council has already paid out £23,500 to children injured in its playgrounds in the last five years.  Its proposed budget aims to save £40,000 by cutting weekend inspections of playgrounds, known as “weekend park duties”.

The mother of a 19-month-old boy is furious after her son suffered a serious cut on his leg as a result of the security tag being left on his trousers purchased at H&M.  Emma Lipscombe had been trying to dress her son in the newly purchased trousers when he began to scream in pain.  The security tag had been left inside one of the trousers’ pockets, with the sharp pin cutting into the leg of the boy as his mother tried to put them on.

Ten years after an accident that took the lives of four men working on a railway line, a rail union has called for the safety measures of workers to be improved. The Rail, Maritime & Transport (RMT) said that not enough improvements have been made to protect workers following the accident that happened a decade ago, and that action must be taken now to prevent the accident from repeating itself. The men were killed by a runaway 16-tonne wagon on the West Coast Main Line at Tebay.

Figures released yesterday have revealed that hundreds of primary school pupils are receiving record payouts.  The last five years has seen the funding of £3.3million worth of compensation in school injury claims, with injuries spanning from slipping on wet floors to hitting heads on goalposts.  Even though calculations lead to the figure of £3.3million, experts believe that the true cost is much more.

A Manx heart charity has donated 40 defibrillators to primary schools on the Isle of Man after raising over £60,000 in recent charity events.  Paula Lunt founded the charity donating the defibrillators - Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation - after her son died of an undiagnosed heart defect in April 2005. Since then the charity has been working hard to equip schools and sports clubs across the island with the potentially life-saving equipment.

A small fire in the newly opened South Bristol Community Hospital has meant that patients requiring urgent medical advice are being forced to go to their GP, a walk-in centre, or an A&E department.  The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning, which forced staff to cancel and rearrange scheduled procedures and appointments.  A total of 58 patients were in the building at the time when the fire was discovered in a plant room on the roof (04:25 BST).

The beginning of the week saw yet another cyclist killed on a London road where no space is dedicated for cycling.  Only a week today, the day before the accident, tens of thousands participated in the traffic-free RideLondon event to protest the lack of cycle paths in the UK.

Although early onset dementia has only ever been associated with boxing, Dr. Willie Stewart - a brain injury specialist - has revealed a worrying link between the illness and many other high impact/injury sports, including rugby.  A recent BBC interview heard Dr. Willie Stewart discussing research that he had carried out with a former rugby player over the last few months.  He examined tissue sections and discovered abnormal proteins that are usually related to dementia and head injuries.

Steven Bond-Lewis will spend the rest of his life on medication following a serious accident at his workplace.  The metal worker from Hereford was crushed by falling machinery containing molten metal, leaving him with such severe organ damage that he expects to live the rest of his life on medication.

Detectives have released details regarding a recent dog attack that took place on Blackpool promenade.  Lesley Wilson (54) was viciously attacked at around 23:00 BST on the 8th July near the sea wall, in the south side of the popular resort.  Following the attack, Ms Wilson has endured two operations – one being a skin graft.

After the recent death of 21-year-old Matthew Joseph, a warning has been issued regarding the dangers of open-water swimming.  Cumbria’s Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) pleads that swimmers avoid swimming in reservoirs, rivers and lakes.

It has been recognised that over the last five years, more than £150,000 in injury compensation has been paid out to school pupils across Gloucestershire.  With the largest payout standing at £18,000, the council has been forced to look into the underlying cause of such payments.

It has recently been noted, by the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, that ‘bed blocking’ is becoming an increasing issue across the trusts’ three hospitals - resulting in additional pressure on the hospitals’ circulation. 

Following a pilot scheme in nine areas, traffic courts are to be opened in England and Wales to allow effective prosecution for minor motoring offences. 

A London-based chemicals company has been prosecuted after a worker was run over by a forklift truck and had to have part of his leg amputated.