How to Make a Claim for Falling Out of a Hospital Bed: Your Step-by-Step Guide
We have recently encountered a number of enquiries relating to hospital falls. Falling out of a hospital bed can be a traumatic and painful experience. Whether you’ve suffered broken bones (hip fractures are common), head injuries and lacerations, or lasting emotional distress, it’s important to know that you may be entitled to compensation.
Quite often, such falls can cause or contribute to secondary or more complicated medical problems (such as a stroke or becoming bed bound) and consequently lead to an extended recovery (if indeed at all) accompanied by loss of mobility, confidence, independence, depression, and a rapid decline in health and sadly an accelerated demise.
Patients admitted to hospital whether following a stroke, or with confusion/hallucinations (perhaps as a result of infection), with cognitive impairment or lacking mental capacity, dementia, have poor mobility, or recovering post-surgery, are typically at higher risk of falling and suffering injury. Extra care should be taken to assess falls risk and ensure their safety.
In this blog post, we’ll walk you through how to make a claim for a hospital bed fall, what evidence you’ll need, and what to expect from the process. Jump ahead to each section using the links below:
Speak to Farley Dwek
We can discuss your claim for hospital bed falls for financial compensation and to identify systemic failures in hospitals.
Can You Make a Claim for Falling Out of a Hospital Bed?
Yes, you can – but only under certain circumstances. Hospitals and healthcare providers owe patients a duty of care to all patients. That means they are legally obligated to ensure your safety while you are under their care and that standard of care received does not fall below the reasonable standard expected. If you fall out of a hospital bed because this duty was breached – perhaps through lack of supervision, bedrails being lowered inappropriately, or just sheer neglect – you may have grounds for a personal injury claim.
Common causes that may lead to a valid claim include:
- Lack of side rails or failure to raise them
- Failure to follow bedrails policy
- Defective or poorly maintained bed equipment
- Inadequate patient supervision or monitoring
- Incorrect (or non-existent) patient risk assessments
- Failure to follow fall prevention (and bed rails) procedures
- Overmedication or poor medication management
- Staff delays in responding to call buttons
We take the view that with proper risk assessment, supervision, care and monitoring, such falls are entirely preventable and should never happen in a hospital setting. Unfortunately, some vulnerable patients never fully recover from such a fall and it can have life-changing consequences.
To achieve compensation, the burden of proof is on you to establish (1) breach of duty (ie liability) and (2) causation. ie that on the balance of probabilities (ie more likely than not), the breach caused the injury. In certain circumstances this can be more complicated than it sounds. Take for example, the case of a stroke or even sudden bereavement within days after a fall. Even if contemporaneous to the fall, it does not always necessarily follow that these subsequent effects are directly linked and caused by the falling incident. You may need expert medical evidence to prove that the fall caused (or accelerated) the onset of this secondary harm. Would it have happened and to the same extent in any event regardless, or would the injuries been avoided or made less severe with reasonable care?
Step-by-Step: How to Make a Hospital Fall Injury Claim
1. Seek Immediate Medical Attention
Even if you’re already in hospital care, it’s important that your injuries are documented separately and clearly following the fall.
Many falls go unwitnessed, but they should still be fully documented.
Sometimes, injuries are not obviously apparent and can take time to manifest. On other occasions, staff may seek to play down the fall and ‘brush it aside’ to avoid culpability and fear of disciplinary action.
Patients should be re-evaluated regularly to check for any deterioration. Scans and x-rays may be required to investigate and/or rule out injury.
An Incident report should be created and you should request a copy to see what happened. These early records can be vital to building your case.
In some circumstances, the incident may trigger a Safeguarding report, which can also be useful evidence to support your case.
2. Report the Incident
We often hear from annoyed families that they only found out about a relative’s fall days after the event, and sometimes, then by chance, as some hospitals seem reluctant to notify families contemporaneously – as if to hide it.
So, make sure the fall is formally reported by the hospital including details of the time and date; whether staff were present when it occurred; where it happened; where the patient was found on the floor afterward; how long had they been there unattended before help arrived; if falling from bed – whether the bedrails were up or down; were the call bells working etc.
3. Record Key Details
Most falls happen to the elderly, those who are post-operative and/or have poor cognitive understanding to appreciate risk. Therefore, it may be difficult to get an accurate picture from them as to what caused their fall and how it happened.
4. Collect Evidence
To support your claim, you’ll need a combination of physical, documentary (and testimonial evidence where available). Here’s what to gather:
A. Medical Records
These should include:
- Your original reason for hospital admission
- All Risk Assessments on admission (particularly Falls Risk)
- Notes on your condition before and after the fall
- X-rays, scans, and treatment reports
- Doctor and nurse assessments following the incident
B. Photographs
Take photos of:
- Your injuries
- The hospital bed (especially if it lacked side rails or appeared faulty)
- Any visible hazards (wet floors, loose cords, etc.)
C. Witness Statements
If any hospital staff, other patients, or visitors saw the fall or the conditions that led to it, their statements can support your case.
D. Incident Reports
Request a copy of the official hospital incident report. You are entitled to this under data protection laws in most regions.
E. Expert Opinion
A medical expert may be able to assess whether your care fell below acceptable standards. Solicitors often help arrange these reports as part of your claim.
5. Contact Us
Negligence and personal injury claims follow a prescribed procedure and can be complex and lengthy. As experienced solicitor, we can evaluate your case, guide you through the process, gather the evidence and represent you if the claim goes to court.
6. What Can You Claim For?
If your claim is successful, you could receive compensation for:
- Pain and suffering – for the physical and psychological effects of the injury
- Medical expenses – for additional treatment, rehabilitation, or private care
- Loss of earnings – if you missed work due to your injuries
- Future care needs – if you require long-term support
- Travel and accommodation costs – for follow-up appointments or therapy
7. Strict time Limits: Don’t Wait Too Long!
In England and Wales, you only have three years from the date of the injury or from when you first became aware of it to have either settled your case or issued court proceedings to extend limitation, otherwise your case will be statute-barred and you will not be able to pursue it (save for exceptional circumstances). For minors (under 18) or those without mental capacity, exceptions may apply. If the patient dies within the 3-year limitation period, the claim is extended by 3 years from the date of death.
8. Preventing Future Incidents: Why Your Claim Matters
While financial compensation can’t undo the trauma of a fall, your claim may help spotlight systemic failures. Hospitals may be prompted to:
- Improve patient monitoring
- Upgrade faulty equipment
- Strengthen fall prevention protocols
- Train staff more effectively
In this way, your case could help protect other vulnerable patients from similar injuries.
Final Thoughts
Falling out of a hospital bed can be a life-changing event which could so easily be avoided. With the right support and evidence, we can help you receive the compensation you deserve and contribute to improving hospital safety standards.
Need help with your claim? Consider speaking to a qualified solicitor at Farley Dwek who can assess your case and support you through the process. The earlier you act, the stronger your claim is likely to be. Or email your enquiry to help@farleydwek.com or call us on 0161 272 5222.