Orthopaedic Injury Compensation Claims

Orthopaedic injuries include:

Orthopaedics is a branch of medicine relating to conditions and injuries involving the bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and spinal column. The injuries often include:

• Fractures or broken bones
• Damage or injuries to the nerves
• Fracture or injury to the spinal column
• Injuries to the shoulder, hip or knees; these injuries may require complex treatments such as joint replacements
• Fracture of facial bones or skull
• Fractures to the collar bone (clavicle)
• Fractures or injuries to the hand, wrist, foot or ankle
• Injuries to muscles, ligaments and tendons including ACL or PCL tears in the knee and rotator cuff injuries and meniscus tears
• De-gloving injuries (serious injuries where the top layers of skin and tissue are ripped from the underlying muscle, connective tissue, or bone).

Orthopaedic injuries can require complex treatment including surgery, joint replacement, long-term rehabilitation and physiotherapy. Secondary conditions such as osteoarthritis or osteoporosis could also develop.

Who you bring your claim against will depend on who was responsible for your injury eg. an employer, driver or a medical professional.

Contact Devonshires Claims’ solicitors to start your claim. Our solicitors are experts in personal injury and medical negligence claims and can support you and your loved ones in obtaining compensation for your injuries.

We will start by asking you some questions to understand what happened. These include:

• What caused your serious injury?
• Where you taken to hospital in an ambulance?
• What were the details of the medical treatment and how long were you in hospital for?
• Are you still receiving treatment?
• Were there any witnesses? Do you have their details?
• Did the police attend the scene of the accident?
• Has there been a Health and Safety Executive investigation?

The compensation awarded for your fracture or other injury would factor in:

• Your pain and suffering
• The extent and degree of the negligence
• The corrective surgery or treatment required
• The potential short and long-term care and rehabilitation and physiotherapy required
• Mobility aids and care requirements including home adaptations and wheelchairs.
• Loss of earnings and the future loss of earnings
• Any expenses incurred as well as future medical, travel and other expenses

Our experts will analyse your claim and carefully determine the maximum compensation you could receive.

Devonshires Claims experts support victims of accidents obtain the justice and compensation they deserve.

We provide:

• A free no-obligation case evaluation.  We will also advise you of the potential compensation you could be awarded.
• A ‘No Win No Fee’ agreement.
• Access to a network of medical professionals and specialist personal injury barristers

Our personal injury claims specialists are experienced in obtaining the maximum compensation for your needs. Orthopaedic injury claims are complex and may often require short and long-term rehabilitation as well as home adaptations. We will determine the correct  compensation payment which will help you maintain a good quality of life and which will provide financial support if you are unable to work.

Devonshires Claims supports accident victims throughout England and Wales. We believe that obtaining justice and compensation due to the negligence of a nurse, GP, consultant, surgeon, dentist or other healthcare provider should not place a financial burden on you or your family.

Our personal injury claims are supported through a ‘No Win No Fee’ agreement, otherwise known as a Conditional Free Agreement. This means that there are no costs to pay if your claim is unsuccessful and no upfront costs to start your claim*.

Find more information on ‘No Win No Fee’ medical negligence claims in our explainer.

As with all injury claims, there is a time limit within which your compensation claim must be made.

A patient has three years from the date of the incident or the date on which they were made aware of the negligence.

The exception to this three year rule relates to children and protected parties. If a child has a claim, they have three years from the date of their 18^th birthday to bring a claim.

If a party is considered a protected party, i.e. they have no capacity :

A child or adult without capacity to run a claim, may not have a time limit within which to bring a claim.  We recommend that you contact Devonshires Claims if you have any queries involving those who lack capacity and our specialist solicitors will be able to assist.

It is important to start your orthopaedic injury claim as soon as possible. For advice on how to start your claim, contact Devonshires Claims’ medical negligence experts today.

Fracture admission trends in England over a ten-year period

Data were analysed for the ten-year period between 2004–2005 and 2013–2014. RESULTS There were 2,489,052 fracture admissions in England over the 10-year study period. The risk of admission for fracture was 47.84 per 10,000 population.

The rate of fracture admission has remained stable. Hip fractures were the most common fracture requiring hospitalisation (n=641,263), followed by distal radius fractures (n=406,313), ankle fractures (n=332,617) and hand fractures (n=244,013). Hip fractures accounted for 58% of hospital bed days, ankle fractures for 10%, and femoral shaft fractures and subtrochanteric femoral fractures for 5% each.

The number of bed days per year for hip fractures has reduced from 1,549,939 bed days in 2004–2005 to 1,319,642 in 2013–2014.