Our guide looks at healthcare assistant injury compensation claims. Workplace accidents of different severity and types can happen in the healthcare industry, which can often be a busy and very physically demanding job. But if an employer’s negligent action or inaction allowed an injury to happen, you may have the right to claim compensation.
We explain what compensation could be awarded in a successful case, and the criteria you must meet to have a valid workplace accident claim.
You will also see some examples of healthcare assistant injuries and what may cause them, as well as types of evidence that could help in a claim against your employer.
It often helps to have professional support, so we discuss how one of our panel’s specialist personal injury solicitors could help you claim compensation on a No Win No Fee basis. This typically means you won’t need to pay them upfront for them to start working on your claim.
You can talk to our advisors about making an accident at work claim and learn if you have a valid case. This service is free and available to you right now, so all you need to do is either:
- Call 0333 000 0729.
- Contact us through our website.
- Try our live chat service for an instant response.
Select A Section
- What Could You Claim For A Healthcare Assistant Injury?
- Who Could Claim For A Healthcare Assistant Injury?
- What Could Cause A Healthcare Assistant Accident At Work?
- How To Prove Your Employer Was Liable For Healthcare Assistant Injuries
- Start Your Workplace Accident Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Learn More About Claiming For A Healthcare Assistant Injury
What Could You Claim For A Healthcare Assistant Injury?
If you make a successful compensation claim for a healthcare assistant injury, you will receive personal injury compensation. The payout can be split into two parts, which might be referred to during a work accident claim as heads of loss.
One head is called general damages. It accounts for physical and psychological harm caused by a work-related injury. You can claim for a psychological injury alone, a physical injury alone, or if you have suffered both, you can seek compensation for both together.
Those responsible for valuing general damages might check medical evidence for guidance. They can also look at a series of guideline compensation brackets assigned to different injuries in a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
Compensation Table
This table is composed of JCG figures, plus a top entry that does not come from the JCG. Please only consider this table as a guide.
| INJURY | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION GUIDELINES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries, Plus Financial Losses | Very Serious | Up to £500,000+ | Compensation addressing numerous forms of harm, alongside expenses or losses such as lost earnings or medical bills. |
| Back | Severe (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Cases of the most severe injury that lead to very serious consequences that are not often found in back injuries. For example, damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots with severe pain and disability. |
| Moderate (i) | £27,760 to £38,780 | A wide variety of injuries, such as a crush fracture of the lumbar vertebrae or a prolapsed intervertebral disc. | |
| Facial Disfigurement | Very Severe Scarring | £29,780 to £97,330 | A very disfiguring cosmetic effect plus a severe psychological reaction for a relatively young claimant. |
| Knee | Severe (i) | £69,730 to £96,210 | Injuries that are serious and cause complications including joint disruption and considerable pain, as well as loss of function. |
| Ankle | Very Severe | £50,060 to £69,700 | A set of limited and unusual injuries. For example, bilateral ankle fractures cause such joint degeneration that a young person requires arthrodesis. |
| Arm | Injuries Resulting in Permanent and Substantial Disablement | £39,170 to £59,860 | Both forearms are fractured, or just one. There is a significant residual disability, either functional or cosmetic, that is permanent. |
| Shoulder | Severe | £19,200 to £48,030 | Often linked to neck injuries and featuring brachial plexus damage leading to significant disability. |
Different Forms Of Compensation In Healthcare Assistant Claims
A compensation claim can only be made if harm was caused, so general damages will always form at least part of a settlement. If you experienced financial loss due to your injuries as well, you could seek compensation under the second head of loss, which is called special damages. For example, you might have been out of pocket for:
- A loss of earnings from being unable to work due to your injuries.
- The cost of travelling to and from appointments.
- Medical bills.
- Home adaptation costs.
- Domestic care costs.
You can seek compensation under special damages if you have documents to prove your losses, such as payslips or invoices.
If you’d like to know more about how much compensation you could receive and what our panel’s specialist solicitors can do to help you achieve a settlement, please just call the number above.
Who Could Claim For A Healthcare Assistant Injury?
Healthcare assistants have many duties including helping patients or residents with eating and dressing and engaging in social and physical activities. The role often requires training.
According to Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, they have a duty of care, which is a legal responsibility, for ensuring employee safety at work and as employees carry out their work tasks. This duty requires them to take reasonably practicable measures. Providing effective training is one step an employer can take to uphold their duty of care. Other steps might include providing correct personal protective equipment (PPE) or making sure tasks are adequately risk assessed.
A failure to do so could lead to an accident causing a healthcare assistant injury. In some cases, a compensation claim could be made if the correct eligibility criteria are met.
The eligibility criteria for a personal injury claim are:
- The employer owed a legal duty of care.
- They breached their duty.
- This breach led to you suffering physical injuries and/or mental harm.
Time Limits On Workplace Injury Claims
Generally speaking, personal injury claims have to begin within three years of the accident date. The Limitation Act 1980 sets out this time limit, but some cases may be given an extended period in exceptional circumstances.
If you want to know more about case eligibility and how long you have to start a claim, you can get quick and accurate information by contacting us today.
What Could Cause A Healthcare Assistant Accident At Work?
A healthcare assistant may face many hazards while working, such as managing aggressive residents or patients, or lifting and moving heavy weights. As such, a workplace injury is a risk. Employers have a duty to remove the risk of injury posed by known hazards, or where the risk cannot be completely removed, they should take steps to reduce it. They can do this by carrying out risk assessments. Failure to do so could lead to an accident in which you suffer harm.
As we touched on before, healthcare assistant claims are possible if these injuries occur because the employer breached their duty of care. These examples of typical accidents causing a healthcare assistant injury highlight how that could happen:
- When preparing food, a care worker slips and falls on a floor that had not been cleaned despite a spillage being reported. They break their ankle and get scalding injuries from the food.
- No manual handling guidance is provided to healthcare assistants. Without the correct manual handling training, an employee sustains a back injury and chronic knee pain after using incorrect lifting techniques to carry out manual handling tasks.
Have you suffered a workplace injury where something important like appropriate training, adequate staffing levels or correct equipment was lacking? Call today to discuss your potential claim and we can assess your chances of being eligible to take legal action.
How To Prove Your Employer Was Liable For Healthcare Assistant Injuries
There are several ways you can prove that your employer was liable for your healthcare assistant injury. One of which includes collecting evidence to show the employer breached their duty of care and this caused you to suffer an injury as a result.
Examples of the evidence you could collect include:
- When you seek medical attention, ask for a copy of your health records from whoever treats you. As mentioned in an earlier section, medical evidence is often important to a claim valuation.
- CCTV footage of the incident and its cause.
- Photos of the scene and any visible injuries suffered.
- A copy of the entry into the company accident book.
- Contact details for potential witnesses. You don’t need to collect a statement, but a witness might provide useful insight during a claim. For example, they could explain that reasonable precautions like a risk assessment were not carried out.
In addition to collecting evidence, it could benefit you to instruct legal representation when making a compensation claim. An experienced solicitor could guide you through the claims process and provide free legal advice.
One of the ways a solicitor from our panel can help with a workplace accident compensation claim is by assisting with evidence collection. If you’d like more information on how a solicitor can help with the healthcare assistant injury claims process, get in touch with our team.
Start Your Workplace Accident Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis
You might be concerned about the legal costs associated with making a work injury compensation claim. If so, you might find it helpful to make a claim on a No Win No Fee basis with one of the solicitors from our panel.
They offer a Conditional Fee Agreement which means you do not pay for their work upfront, during the claim process, or even at the end should the case be lost.
When you receive financial compensation for a winning claim, the solicitor takes a cut as their success fee. This can only ever be a small percentage of what is awarded because of a legal cap applied by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013. As such, you keep the majority of your settlement.
Speak To A Member Of Our Team About Your Workplace Injury Claim
If you want to claim compensation for an injury you suffered while working as a healthcare assistant, please get in touch today. Our advisors are experienced in answering frequently asked questions about compensation claims for healthcare assistant injuries. They can also help you learn whether you have valid legal grounds to start a case.
Our service is free, and you can be connected to one of our panel’s expert solicitors if you have valid grounds to seek compensation. To get in touch, you can:
- Phone us on 0333 000 0729.
- Contact us online so we can call you.
- Click on the live support button.
Learn More About Claiming For A Healthcare Assistant Injury
Some articles on accident at work claims and more from us:
- You may be wondering about your rights as a voluntary care worker. If you’re asking whether you have to be an employee to claim as a carer injured in the workplace, this guide will help.
- This guide outlines the employer’s responsibilities and what health and safety regulations they must follow after an accident.
- We explain when you can seek criminal injury compensation for patient abuse in a hospital setting.
You could also try these resources:
- Government website information on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and how to claim it.
- Health and safety statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the UK’s regulator for workplace safety conduct.
- NHS guidance on when to call 999 for immediate medical attention.
Thank you for reading our guide. If you have suffered a healthcare assistant injury and want to discuss your legal rights to claim compensation, please call or reach out to us online today.
