My 12 hours of A&E hell!

[gavgav]

I suppose the solicitor firm I contacted will do that if necessary. I picked a local firm,so it'll be easier to go and see them directly. When I was hit by that boy racer 4 years ago I randomly chose a firm in Chesterfield, which is about 70 miles away.

I’d contact PALS yourself. Presumably the solicitor is for the claim against the Gym, not the Hospital and so don’t see what the solicitor can do in regards to a complaint against the hospital

 

[Accy cyclist]

I’d contact PALS yourself. Presumably the solicitor is for the claim against the Gym, not the Hospital and so don’t see what the solicitor can do in regards to a complaint against the hospital

Ah, I see that you meant the hospital,not the gym. I don't know if it'd be wise to complain about the hospital. Since last night I've spoken to 3 people who've had similar Blackburn hospital experiences. Yes I know they say that the more who complain the more is done about it, but what would it achieve for me. I've had 5 or 6 stays in the place. Most have been quite pleasurable considering the circumstances. I'm going to put it down to one of those days when things just didn't go right.

 

[tyred]

Get well soon.

 

[steveindenmark]

I would like to think I could take a shower without acquiring a dislocated shoulder and a suspected broken hip.

How many other people slipped in the same shower that night? As its a gym, I would assume there were other users.
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Shower floors are wet and slippery by their nature and I would imagine that if you were the only one to fall. You will not have a leg to stand on. So to speak.

 

[Globalti]

What could the owners of the gym be reasonably expected to do about a wet shower floor?

Assuming they had washed it with lots of slippery detergent just before you went in, how would you prove it?

 

[Accy cyclist]

This kind of made me laugh...a little. https://www.claims.co.uk/secure/slips-trips-falls?c=Bing&kw=Search~76278719527557~can i claim if% When I first joined the gym last October I was pulled up for eating a banana while using one of the static bikes. I was told that someone could slip on a disregarded banana skin,therefore they weren't allowed. So hot on little things like that,, but then they choose to ignore many complaints about that 'treacherous' shower floor.

 

[lane]

What could the owners of the gym be reasonably expected to do about a wet shower floor?

Assuming they had washed it with lots of slippery detergent just before you went in, how would you prove it?

Having experience of being on the other side of the claim you need to prove very little beyond you fell and sustained injuries. The burden of proof is very much on the organisation to prove what they did and by prove I mean they must have evidence. For example someone claims they slipped on a grape a year ago - the organisation will be asked to prove they cleaned the floor and when and that the grape was not there when they finished cleaning. You might say we have a cleaning team in the building every evening. Not good enough prove you cleaned that particular room on that day - signed cleaning sheets for the day or photos of the floor. These questions not from the defence but from YOUR insurers who say without this they cannot defend the claim. Just my experience in a previous job.

 

[Globalti]

In the end doesn't this kind of civil dispute come down to which side has the most cash, time and determination?

My BIL was until recently CE of a big NHS hospital. He told me that at any time there are usually around 50 staff and patients trying to sue the hospital for a whole range of reasons and that his legal department was good enough that the vast majority were certain to fail. But what a waste of money that could be being spent on treating sick people.

 

[ColinJ]

What could the owners of the gym be reasonably expected to do about a wet shower floor?

Put something on it to make it non-slip, or design it to be non-slip in the first place!

As I mentioned above, my shower tray was treacherous until I added non-slip mats.

Another example - Accy broke a hip slipping on wet decking. What could have been done...? Damn well add a non-slip surface!

I went on holiday in Devon and the accommodation had a large area of raised decking at the back of it, with a wooden ramp leading up to it. I used to wheel my bike up and down the ramp. The whole area was made safe with non-slip pads, except for the very end of the ramp. I walked onto the ramp after rain and promptly slipped over! I would have ended up in a tangled heap of man and bike at the bottom of the ramp if I hadn't managed to grab a handrail as I fell. If I had broken a hip then I definitely would have demanded compensation. Since no harm was done I simply reported the problem to the site owner.

I went to a holiday cottage in Wales once. It was in a great location but there were 6 or 7 things wrong with the cottage, which I listed in the visitors book. My sister stayed at the cottage a few months later and all of the problems had been rectified, the main one being padding over a huge low purlin in the attic bedroom. I had smacked my head against it 3 times in a week!

It is the responsibility of the gym managers/owners to make sure that is safe to use. Shower floors becoming slippery when wet is something that could be planned for and prevented.

 

[lane]

In the end doesn't this kind of civil dispute come down to which side has the most cash, time and determination?

My BIL was until recently CE of a big NHS hospital. He told me that at any time there are usually around 50 staff and patients trying to sue the hospital for a whole range of reasons and that his legal department was good enough that the vast majority were certain to fail. But what a waste of money that could be being spent on treating sick people.

With regard to the gym floor - it comes down to a calculation by the Gym's insurers regarding the chance of defending the claim. If they haven't got a case they have high confidence in winning - with the sort of evidence available described in my last post - they will simply make a commercial decision to settle the claim rather than committ resources to defending in court with a less than certain outcome for themselves.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'm sat here almost immobile. It's taking me 3 times as long to do tasks and I have keep taking my left arm out the sling to use my walking stick to get around. When I had a hernia op' last September a hospital charity approached me as I was waiting for the hospital transport to take me home asking if I needed any aids such as a perching stool or a raised toilet seat. Yet this time when my situation is a lot worse no help was offered. They know I live on my own as they kept asking me if I did on Thursday night in the A&E. So that seems to be how it is. If you have an operation no matter how small it is they offer you assistance, yet immobility down my left side to add to my one eye working restricted sight doesn't register on their radar. Then of course there are the stairs I have to manage. How am I expected to hold a stair rail and a walking stick with one arm/hand?

 

[lane]

Put something on it to make it non-slip, or design it to be non-slip in the first place!

As I mentioned above, my shower tray was treacherous until I added non-slip mats.

Another example - Accy broke a hip slipping on wet decking. What could have been done...? Damn well add a non-slip surface!

I went on holiday in Devon and the accommodation had a large area of raised decking at the back of it, with a wooden ramp leading up to it. I used to wheel my bike up and down the ramp. The whole area was made safe with non-slip pads, except for the very end of the ramp. I walked onto the ramp after rain and promptly slipped over! I would have ended up in a tangled heap of man and bike at the bottom of the ramp if I hadn't managed to grab a handrail as I fell. If I had broken a hip then I definitely would have demanded compensation. Since no harm was done I simply reported the problem to the site owner.

I went to a holiday cottage in Wales once. It was in a great location but there were 6 or 7 things wrong with the cottage, which I listed in the visitors book. My sister stayed at the cottage a few months later and all of the problems had been rectified, the main one being padding over a huge low purlin in the attic bedroom. I had smacked my head against it 3 times in a week!

It is the responsibility of the gym managers/owners to make sure that is safe to use. Shower floors becoming slippery when wet is something that could be planned for and prevented.

This is exactly correct.

I went on holiday to a French campsite and some steps near the the swimming pool were bloody lethal. Clearly should have had a non slip mat or suface. I think they had a complaint or accident because - and rather than the obvious thing of a non slip mat - they put a sign up warning the steps were slippy when wet. The good thing was if you started to slide it was possible to grab hold of the sign to steady yourself so it kind of worked.

 

[Accy cyclist]

the accommodation had a large area of raised decking at the back of it, with a wooden ramp leading up to it.

Why that wooden decking is still sold I do not know! When I was a window cleaner I and others doing the same job regarded the stuff as the most hazardous part of the job, even above vicious dogs in back yards, high winds, crumbling walls we had to climb over etc. When I started my round naively I put my ladder on some green with mould wooden decking. As I got half way up my ladder the thing just slipped back and I ended up smacking my face on the metal rungs as I hit the deck. Not only a shock to the system, but also embarrassing as it happened in full view of those who's windows I was cleaning. They seemed to find it funny. Looking back maybe I should've claimed against them for not warning me about how dangerous it was. if I see that stuff on floors now I give it a very wide berth!

 

[lane]

Also the gym will need to provide thier risk assessment for the showers which should include risk of slipping. If it doesn't or worse they don't have one they cannot defend the case.

 

[MontyVeda]

This kind of made me laugh...a little. https://www.claims.co.uk/secure/slips-trips-falls?c=Bing&kw=Search~76278719527557~can i claim if% When I first joined the gym last October I was pulled up for eating a banana while using one of the static bikes. I was told that someone could slip on a discarded banana skin,therefore they weren't allowed. So hot on little things like that,, but then they choose to ignore many complaints about that 'treacherous' shower floor.
View attachment 479379

Has anybody, outside of a cartoon show or comic strip, ever actually slipped on a banana skin? Who's their H&S consultant? Hanna-Barbera