After suffering a back injury whilst attempting to lift the leg of a morbidly obese male patient that forced her to relinquish a job she loved, one nurse has recently received a personal injury compensation award of over £100,000 for her work accident claim.
Surrey Native Linda Andrew, from Egham, who weighs eight stone soaking wet, had already informed her employers prior to her accident claim of how difficult it was for her to treat her patient, that weighed in at a hefty twenty two stone.
The male patient’s legs, which weighed a total of 44 pounds each, needed to be moved in order to treat them, which required dressings applied to the patient’s feet. As Mrs Andrews was attempting to lift one of the patient’s legs in order to provide the man the proper medical care, she felt a sharp pain in the small of her back, aggravating back problems that had currently gone into dormancy. As a result the increase in pain left her with no recourse but to relinquish her position as a community nurse.
When the High Court decided that the NHS Trust neglected to do more to help Mrs Andrews with the lifting, it ordered Surrey Primary Care Trust to pay her £107,246 in personal injury compensation to the former nurse. The High Court specified that the hospital should have either provided Mrs Andrews with equipment specialising in lifting heavy loads or at least instructed another nurse to assist Mrs Andrews.
At the conclusion of the court hearing, Mrs Andrews commented in an interview that she felt both vindicated and relieved by the High Court’s decision. Now the former nurse has begun to plan her new career, making indications that she may take up counselling in order to continue to provide care for patients in some capacity.