A GALWAY anaesthetist who claims her career prospects have been seriously limited by severe back pain, allegedly due to injuries sustained while helping to lift a seriously ill hospital patient, has sued the HSE for damages.
Louise Slevin (34) claims that had she not suffered the injuries, she would have progressed to the position of consultant anaesthetist. She claims she has been in almost permanent excruciating pain from twisting her back while attempting to lift a seriously ill patient who had fallen out of a bed in the intensive care unit of University College Hospital, Galway, on April 8th, 2002.
The injuries have had such a devastating effect on her life, she may never be able to work as an anaesthetist again, she claims.
Dr Slevin, Bishop O’Donnell Road, Galway, is seeking damages for severe personal injuries sustained. She claims negligence in that she was not trained to lift a patient or in manual handling techniques and the HSE had failed to have a system in place to deal with patients who required lifting.
She also claims she was exposed to a risk of injury about which the HSE knew of, or ought to have known. She further alleges failure to provide her with a safe place of work. Her action also includes a claim for compensation for her medical fees and loss of her salary to date and into the future.
The HSE denies the claims and also pleads contributory negligence by Dr Slevin. It further claims her alleged injuries relate to her pre-accident back problems and physical ailments.
Frank Callanan SC, for Dr Slevin, said she was on call at the time and noticed that a patient in the ICU ward with a severe medical condition had fallen from her bed.
This patient had three tubes inserted in her body and Dr Slevin was concerned detachment of any of those would have put the patient’s life at risk, Mr Callanan said. She sought help and, with the aid of a nurse, he added, she attempted to life the patient from the ground on to a chair beside the bed.
In the course of that, Dr Slevin twisted and injured her back.