McGregor v State of Queensland [2009] NSWDC 69

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: McGregor v State of Queensland [2009] NSWDC 69

HEARING DATE(S): 16, 17, 18 and 19 March 2009

JUDGMENT DATE: 22 April 2009

JURISDICTION: Civil

JUDGMENT OF: Hungerford ADCJ

DECISION: Verdict for the first and second defendants against the plaintiff; parties to be heard on costs before final orders are made.

CATCHWORDS: TORTS - Personal injury - Transport by ambulance - Admission to Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital with back pain - Transfer by ambulance officers from ambulance stretcher to hospital bed - Alleged fall between stretcher and bed - Claimed injury to shoulders - Negligence of ambulance officers - Vicarious liability of hospital - Material differences in eye witnesses' accounts - Finding that incident did not occur - Improbability of occurrence - Existing injury to shoulders of long standing - Causal relationship to any incident was not established.

LEGISLATION CITED: Nil

CASES CITED: Nil

Brian Duncan McGregor - Plaintiff PARTIES: State of Queensland - First Defendant North Coast Area Health Service - Second Defendant

FILE NUMBER(S): No 5760 of 2007

Mr F Tuscano for Plaintiff COUNSEL: Mr K Kelleher for First Defendant Mr S Davis for Second Defendant

Stacks/Goudkamp for Plaintiff SOLICITORS: Ferguson Lawyers for First Defendant Frances Allpress for Second Defendant

JUDGMENT

1 After arrival by ambulance at the Accident and Emergency Department of a public hospital on 9 July 2006 suffering severe back pain, the patient was wheeled to a cubicle by means of the ambulance stretcher. In the process of being transferred to the hospital bed by the alleged use of a slide, the slide fell between the stretcher and the bed causing the patient's legs to fall to the floor as he hung by his upper arms and shoulders. Injury to the shoulders was said to have been thereby caused resulting in continuing loss and damage to him. He brought the present action in negligence to recover damages.