This guide looks at whether it is possible to make claims for patients falling out of bed in a hospital. Read on to learn about the eligibility criteria for hospital negligence claims and how hospital staff can uphold their duty of care to patients by reducing the risk of falling.
We discuss injuries that could occur if a patient falls out of their hospital bed and the compensation they could receive in a successful claim.
Finally, learn more about the expert support our specialist hospital negligence solicitors provide under No Win No Fee terms.
Our advisors can provide further guidance and even help you learn if you have a case that could be passed on to one of our solicitors. This service is completely free and there’s no obligation to claim. So contact us today for information about claims for patients falling out of bed in hospital by:
- Calling 0800 073 8801.
- Contact us online and we’ll call you.
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Select A Section
- Compensation Claims For Patients Falling Out Of Bed In Hospital
- What Can Hospitals Do To Reduce The Risk Of Falls?
- What Injuries May Occur When A Patient Falls Out Of Bed?
- What Compensation Could Patients Falling Out Of Bed In Hospital Claim?
- How To Claim With Our No Win No Fee Hospital Negligence Solicitors
- Discover More About Claims For Patients Falling Out Of Bed In A Hospital
Compensation Claims For Patients Falling Out Of Bed In Hospital
Doctors and nurses, as well as all healthcare providers such as hospitals, all have a duty to provide the correct standard of care to each patient they treat. Patients falling out of bed in hospitals is a potential risk if these health institutions do not provide sufficient care.
Failure to meet the correct standard of care that causes patients harm is known as negligence in tort law and possible grounds to pursue a compensation claim.
If you were hurt in a hospital fall, you could start a hospital negligence claim as long as you can show that:
- A hospital owed you a duty of care.
- They failed to provide the correct standard of care and breached that duty.
- As a result, you suffered avoidable harm.
Check How Long You Have To Claim
Further to the eligibility criteria above, claims for patients falling out of bed in a hospital must be started within the legal time limit. The Limitation Act 1980 sets out a three-year limit, meaning that generally, your claim must be submitted within three years of the negligent care occurring.
In the event that you only learn of a connection between substandard care and your injuries later on, you may have three years from when you find out, known as the date of knowledge.
Some further circumstances might call for a different time frame entirely. You can learn more about hospital negligence claim time limits and discuss your own claim deadline by calling the number above.
What Can Hospitals Do To Reduce The Risk Of Falls?
Patients who are admitted to the hospital or who are staying there are often too sick to be at home, meaning that they need sufficient care. As well as medical care they will also need to be kept safe and secure.
Suffering an additional injury because of a fall out of bed could have a far-reaching effect on the patient’s health, so it is vital that all hospitals have a policy framework for bed safety. To keep patients safe, hospitals could:
- Perform fall risk assessments and remove any hazards identified. NHS guidance advises hospital staff to discuss the outcome of the assessment with the patient as well as their relatives or carers.
- Ensure the brakes are in working order and applied.
- Keep the bed in the lowest possible position or provide an adjustable bed that a patient can raise or lower with ease.
- Give the patient a mobility aid that is within easy reach.
- Remove any clutter or obstacles that might catch the patient’s feet and cause a fall.
- Monitor patients carefully. A patient’s chest or neck becoming entrapped in between bed rails or in the bed frame is one of the NHS’s Never Events, a list of serious and entirely preventable incidents.
If you have fallen and suffered injuries because your care was negligent, you could have a private practice or NHS negligence claim. Just call today with details and our advisors will help you learn if you have good reason to start a hospital negligence case.
What Injuries May Occur When A Patient Falls Out Of Bed?
Patients falling out of bed in hospital could suffer any of a range of injuries, including the following:
- Cuts, lacerations or bruises caused by the impact with the floor.
- Breaks and fractures, such as a broken arm or a fractured elbow, from colliding with a hard floor.
- Soft tissue injuries in the neck or back.
- Worsening of an existing problem such as a broken hip.
- In a worst-case scenario, becoming entrapped by bed rails could cause a brain injury.
- Stress, anxiety or depression could ensue, as a fall can be a confidence-sapping experience.
Some patients are likely to be at more risk than others. For example, older people, patients who are unable to move freely or those with bone conditions could face a more realistic threat of broken and fractured bones. If vulnerabilities are not identified and accounted for, the pain experienced if patients fall could be seen as avoidable.
You could be entitled to compensation if a fall injury you suffered could have been otherwise avoided. To learn more about how to make a hospital negligence claim, please call today.
What Compensation Could Patients Falling Out Of Bed In Hospital Claim?
If your hospital negligence claim is successful, you would receive a settlement made up of up to two parts, or heads of claim.
Patients falling out of bed in hospital and suffering avoidable harm could seek compensation for pain and suffering brought on by their injuries. This comes under the general damages head of claim. You can seek compensation for both physical and psychological injury, or one of the two.
Those calculating your general damages payout might use medical evidence as a resource. They could also turn to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), a document featuring guideline compensation brackets. We have provided a compensation table using JCG figures for various injuries, which you can see below.
Compensation Table
The top line is the only entry in this table that is not from the JCG. Please note that this table should only be seen as a guide.
| INJURY | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries And Financial Losses | Serious | Up to £500,000+ | Compensation for more than one serious injury, in addition to expenses brought on by injuries such as a loss of earnings. |
| Brain | Very Severe | £282,010 to £403,990 | Numerous factors affect the level of award, including the injured person's life expectancy and the extent of sensory and physical impairment. |
| Moderate (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | Cases featuring a moderate to severe intellectual deficit and a change in personality, among other effects. | |
| Back | Severe (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Most severe injuries that involve spinal cord and nerve root damage, with a combination of serious consequences. |
| Severe Leg Injuries | The Most Serious Injuries Short of Amputation | £96,250 to £135,920 | Injuries do not involve amputation but the courts award damages in a similar way because of the severity. |
| Hip | Severe (i) | £78,400 to £130,930 | Includes hip injuries resulting in spondylolisthesis of a low back joint with intolerable pain and the need for a spinal fusion. |
| Wrist | Complete Loss of Function | £47,620 to £59,860 | For example, an arthrodesis is performed on the wrist. |
| Arm | Injuries Resulting in Permanent and Substantial Disablement | £39,170 to £59,860 | Significant functional or cosmetic disability that is permanent and caused by serious fractures to one or both forearms. |
| Elbow | A Severely Disabling Injury | £39,170 to £54,830 | An injury regarded as severely disabling. Injuries not involving major surgery fall into a lower bracket. |
| Neck | Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | The bracket includes chronic issues, often involving serious soft tissue injuries to both the neck and back or referred symptoms to other body parts. |
Special Damages
Special damages might accompany general damages in a settlement. This second potential head of claim accounts for monetary losses brought about because of your injuries.
If you have sufficient proof, such as payslips or receipts, you could seek compensation for the likes of:
- A loss of earnings from being unable to work while ill or injured.
- University or course fees reimbursed for missed courses
- Travel expenses.
- Medical bills.
- Domestic care fees.
- Home adaptation charges.
If you’re wondering how much compensation for claims for patients falling out of bed in a hospital can be awarded, please give us a call. We can talk you through your potential claim and possibly connect you with one of our expert solicitors if you have reasonable grounds to sue a hospital for negligence.
How To Claim With Our No Win No Fee Hospital Negligence Solicitors
Our specialist hospital negligence solicitors have expertise in helping patients who have fallen out of bed in a hospital, due to negligent care, claim for the injuries they have suffered. They can ensure the case starts within the allowed time limit and help you prove hospital negligence to achieve a settlement.
If you have a claim one of our solicitors can take on, you could get their legal services on a No Win No Fee basis.
The Conditional Fee Agreement our solicitors offer ensures no upfront or running fees for the work on your case. Furthermore, you would not pay for your solicitor’s work if the claim does not succeed.
If your claim wins, the solicitor will capture a success fee. Because of a legal ceiling put in place by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, your solicitor could only possibly collect a pre-agreed small percentage of the payout.
Talk To Our Specialist Team Today
Even if you don’t start a compensation claim with us, you can get support any time through our 24/7 support service. Should you be interested in getting professional help for a claim, an advisor can assess your potential case and connect you with one of our expert solicitors if it has a valid basis.
All of this guidance is completely free of charge. If you want to learn more, it’s easy and stress-free to do so through any of these routes:
- Phone: 0800 073 8801.
- Website: Contact us through our online query form.
- Live chat: Open the pop-up tab that can be found at the foot of this page.
Discover More About Claims For Patients Falling Out Of Bed In A Hospital
Here are some medical negligence claim guides from our collection:
- Our guide to doctor negligence claims and how to seek compensation.
- Details on care home negligence and how claims work.
- Explaining when you can claim for bedsores and pressure sores caused by substandard care.
You can also get useful information from these resources:
- The NHS Constitution For England, includes medical staff responsibilities.
- This press release from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom, highlights how a patient died after becoming trapped in a hospital bed.
- Advice on how to get Statutory Sick Pay from your employer, provided by the government website.
Thank you for reading our guide to compensation claims for patients falling out of bed in a hospital. Please call or get in touch online if there’s anything further we can help with.