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22nd August 2008

Injured Darlington Care Assistant wins compensation

Lifting a resident caused back injury

A Care Assistant who was hurt whilst lifting a resident at The Grange Residential Care Home in Darlington has won £8,000 compensation from her former employer after injuring her back and subsequently losing her job. The case was brought with the assistance of trade union GMB and Thompsons Solicitors.

In August 2005, Mrs Margaret Yates, now aged 58, of Darlington was required to help dress an elderly lady who was immobile. Together with a colleague, Mrs Yates had to drag the lady up off the bed whilst reaching around to pull undergarments up resulting in an injury to her back.

No access to lifting and handling training

Commenting, Mrs Yates, said: “Very often we were dealing with very frail residents who simply couldn’t help themselves. On this occasion my colleague and I had to support the full bodyweight of this very elderly lady and I did my best under the circumstances as I would for any of the residents. If I’d known how to dress her or any other of the residents properly, or been given access to training, I would have adopted a safer method instead.”

“Unfortunately, I ended up with a back injury and was in a lot of pain. For several weeks after the accident I was unable to perform simple domestic tasks and eventually I was forced to leave my job.”

Unsafe system of work led to injury

The GMB said: “Mrs Yates’ case highlights certain deficiencies in the private sector in terms of providing training and instruction of staff in safe handling techniques when assisting residents in care homes. This not only puts the staff at risk but there are also issues as to the safety and dignity of the residents.”

Mrs Yates’ representative at Thompsons Solicitors, Diane Davison, said: “The employers operated an unsafe system of work in allowing a drag lift to be used. Legal proceedings had to be issued when St Martin's Care Limited of Sunderland, who owned The Grange and a number of other care homes, repeatedly ignored requests for information and documentation. Employers should be warned that the courts will take a dim view when they refuse to engage in due legal process resulting in heavy costs penalties."

Compensation Claim Advice

If you or anyone you know has suffered a personal injury at work after lifting a heavy object, telephone us now for accurate claim advice.

There are strict time limits in place to make any injury claim including claims relating to accidents at work. For further information, contact us or visit our Questions Answered page.

Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all personal injury matters. We will be able to advise you whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation. Our specialist personal injury lawyers will be happy to talk you through the process of making a claim in plain English and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have. If you do have a valid personal injury compensation claim and you decide to instruct Thompsons Solicitors to deal with the matter for you, we will recover our legal fees from the person responsible for your injury, ensuring that the entire procedure is cost-free for you. Telephone us now on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online compensation claim forms.