John Keane was admitted to North Trafford Hospital suffering from breathing problems. Whilst there he fell from his hospital bed a number of times.  The hospital assigned security guards to monitor Mr Keane but they failed to prevent further falls. These falls resulted in Mr Keane fracturing his femur and breaking his arm. Mr Keane’s family was then informed of the falls and they stayed by his bedside around the clock. Mr Keane had no further falls whilst being looked after by his family.

 

Surgery was required to repair his fractured femur but Mr Keane’s breathing problems had deteriorated and sadly he died in hospital.  

 

Mr Keane’s family contacted John Pickering and Partners LLP about pursuing a claim and a qualified solicitor guided them through the inquest process and a subsequent compensation claim.

 

A 5-figure payment was obtained from the hospital and Mr Keane’s family now feels that it has finally acknowledged that matters should have been handled differently. Indeed, the hospital has recently revised its policy regarding the supervision of at risk patients. 

 

Comment

 

Mr Keane’s widow and family understandably felt very upset that they had not been informed earlier about his falls and that security guards had been assigned to observe him rather than trained nurses.

 

His family would have been with him at all times had they known and they wanted an acknowledgement that the hospital ought to have acted differently so as to prevent other patients and their families from suffering in the same way. For this reason they sought expert legal advice from specialist personal injury solicitors.

 

Initially Mr Keane’s family contacted our clinical negligence team but it quickly became clear that this claim was not a clinical negligence claim as negligent medical treatment had not occurred, rather this claim was a personal injury claim which happened within a hospital setting.

 

It was then determined that Mr Keane’s death may have been caused by his falls as there is an established, but complex, medical link between a fractured femur and breathing problems. The former condition can cause or make the latter condition much worse. This was put to the hospital and after some negotiation an appropriate settlement was achieved.

 

Mr Keane’s daughter made these comments about the service that her family received from us:

 

‘The service that was provided was of an excellent standard, your approachable and caring attitude was comforting. We felt able to ring you to ask questions when we were unsure and you understood the grief and loss we felt. Many thanks for all your hard work.’

 

Contact details:  

 

 

 

About John Pickering and Partners LLP

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

 

We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work.  We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.

 

Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or  our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Find out more about what others have said about us.

 

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

 

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

 

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

 

More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015. 

 

The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006.  Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

 

Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.

 

For more information about asbestos diseases-

www.johnpickering.co.uk

 

For practical information and support concerning mesothelioma-

www.mesothelioma-advice.co.uk

 

For more information about claiming for different types of asbestos disease-

Mesothelioma compensation claims

Lung cancer compensation claims

Asbestosis compensation claims

Pleural thickening compensation claims

 

 

For more an explanation about different types of asbestos conditions-

Different asbestos conditions

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