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If this story was 20 years ago, I think it’s safe to say all Englishman would be on the edge of their seats right now! According to sources from Sky News, English football legend Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne has been injured in a car accident (source).

It may also come as a bit of a surprise to you that he wasn’t driving; not that I would speak negatively of the ex-England international and Newcastle and Tottenham star, but he has had a fair few run ins in the past with drink driving, amongst the varying off-field incidents Gazza managed to land himself in! According to the source, the 43 year old was a passenger in a car that, according to eye witnesses, appeared to screech around a corner at speed before crashing in to Newcastle city’s historic guildhall, taking out a lamppost and a taxi stand sign in the process. A 36 year old woman has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving, and has been released on police bail.
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Tragedy strikes South Africa for a group of Leicestershire students just a couple of days before England kick off their World Cup tournament.

The students from Brooksby Melton College in Melton Mowbray were on an organised field trip which had been arranged through travel company Chameleon Worldwide. The students were nearing the end of their trip as they were due to be flying back to the UK.

Sky News has reported that a bus carrying 22 students from the college and 1 member of staff overturned after the driver lost control on Bulembu Road in Barberton. An officer from the local police told reporters that the roads in this area are ‘treacherous’ and have caused many fatal accidents in the past.
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On Saturday 5th June 2010, ambulance and police officers were called out to a house in east London after the fox mauled the 9 month old twins. It has been reported that the fox crept upstairs and attacked the girls after entering the house through an open door that had been left open for ventilation due to the hot weather. Their mother, Mrs. Pauline Koupparis has described how she heard her daughters crying and upon entering the room found the fox stood over them. The two girls suffered arm and serious facial injuries and a police statement said that they were in a stable but serious condition in a London hospital.

After the attack, the fox was caught by the RSPCA and later destroyed humanely. The incident is similar to one in 2002 when a fox injured a 14 month old boy in Kent, however news of the attack has surprised wildlife experts and, despite the number of foxes in urban areas increasing over the last few years, fox attacks on humans are extremely rare. One wildlife expert said “Foxes are among the most amenable, least aggressive mammals you could share your environment with. It’s very rare for a fox to be brave enough to face even a cat.” He also said that foxes have been known to steal the odd item of clothing from human residences but they usually do anything to avoid a confrontation.
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It was reported in the media on 22/5/10 that Republic of Ireland international footballer Shane Duffy recently suffered a life threatening injury during a training match which experts have claimed was such a ‘freak injury’ that it might not occur again for another 100 years.

Duffy, 18, who also plays for Everton FC, was representing his country in a training match against an Irish amateur team when he collided with opposition goalkeeper, Adrian Walsh, and suffered a laceration to his liver. Medics rushed onto the pitch to attend the stricken player and he was then rushed to Mater Hospital in Dublin where he underwent emergency surgery performed by surgeon Gerry McEntee. It is understood that the injury had caused him to suffer massive internal bleeding and that he lost over two thirds of his blood supply.

The Republic of Ireland’s team surgeon Professor O’Byrne praised the hospital’s staff for their expertise and swift actions, which he believed saved the teenagers life, and commented that the young player had “Collided with a player in a way that you would see thousands of times in football matches. It was a freak injury that in another 100 years of medicine, we may never see again.”
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A horrendous medical negligence case has recently been reported in the news, where a Consultant Paediatrician at the Manchester Children’s Hospital mistakenly removed a baby’s bladder when undertaking an operation to remove a hernia (source 1, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8546501.stm and source 2).

The seven-week year old baby, referred to as ‘Baby A’ for the purposes of the investigation, was admitted to the Manchester Children’s Hospital with a hernia problem and constipation. It was discovered that her left ovary was protruding into her stomach and surgery was therefore required.

43 year-old Consultant Paediatrician, Miss Pierina Kapur, set out to remove the inguinal hernia, an operation which would normally take only 15 minutes. In this occasion, however, it took over an hour before the surgery was completed and the abdomen closed.
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Bicycle manufacturer Raleigh have pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of one of their employees, after an accident in which one of their employees was killed at work.

The 59 year old employee died at Raleigh’s Eastwood site in 2007 after he crashed a fork lift truck causing him to be flung out of the truck, where he was then crushed by girders and rubble knocked down by the impact – causing him to suffer multiple injuries, including a fractured spine and a torn aorta valve in his heart. The worker was alive at the scene when medical staff attended, and was airlifted to Queens Medical Centre hospital where he later died from his injuries.

The employee had been an experienced driver of fork lift trucks and, although there were no witnesses to the actual accident, it is understood that he was driving the truck with the forks raised, which is against company health and safety policy, and as a result hit the top of a low doorway. However, evidence submitted in Court showed that there had been 2 other previous incidents involving fork lift trucks and a health and safety expert who examined the scene concluded that there had been a foreseeable risk of the accident happening. The depot manager admitted that he had failed to anticipate the accident; however he also accused the local authority inspectors and an independent expert of failing to spot the danger.
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The BBC News website has recently had a report about a new charity that is to be launched in North Wales for doctors to attend the scene of road and other serious accidents. The charity, which will be known as The North Wales Emergency Doctor Service, has been set up with the intention  to provide specialist support for paramedics at the scene of road and other serious accidents. This new idea follows results of research that has revealed that expert help for paramedics at the scene of the accident can lead to a better outcome for many people involved in accidents and can help save lives.

Initially, four doctors throughout the region have volunteered for the scheme, and they will work in their free time and in less busy periods for hospitals. Each of the doctors will be equipped with £15,000 worth of equipment in their cars and they will be notified at the same time as the ambulance service so that they arrive on the scene as soon as possible. It is hoped that by raising funds more doctors will sign up to the scheme and if it proves successful it is hoped that similar schemes will be set up all around the UK.
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We’ve previously discussed the onus on your employer to ensure that you have a workstation which is safe and fit for purpose. You work station i.e. your desk, chair and surrounding area, should be such that you can work day to day without causing yourself undue harm. Your desk should be set up for your own individual needs, so if you need your monitor at a certain height – it should be that way, or if you need back support – this should be provided.
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It’s never nice to be injured in an accident, or injured through the fault of another person or company. And it’s perhaps worse when a child is the victim of an accident through the negligence of another person or company.

And according to sources from The Mirror (source), youngster retail giant Mothercare has withdrawn two models of buggies from its shop floors after the manufacturers admitted the buggies posed “a serious injury risk to toddlers.”
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This week, it has come to light that more than 200 patients treated at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital are suing one of the consultants there for negligent treatment.

The BBC states (source) that all the women went to the hospital for treatment for incontinence and have come out with symptoms significantly worse that they had before the operation. Some had minor urinary incontinence and left the hospital suffering with double incontinence affecting both their bladder and their bowels.

Incontinence is a common problem in the UK, particularly found in women following childbirth, but the fact that it is common does not lessen the serious effects that it can have on people’s lives. This is a humiliating condition which, when severe, can dictate what the sufferer is able to do. Many patients must forward-think their day to ensure that they are never too far from a toilet and some people can almost feel housebound by the condition.
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