Worcestershire Council pays out £90,000 to social worker left unable to work following injury

A residential social worker has received £90,000 from Worcestershire Council in an out of court settlement, after being left unable to work following an injury at a care home.

Debbie Carter injured her back in October 2003 when a resident of the home in which she worked fell on her while Carter was trying to support her. The residential support worker, who worked with people with learning disabilities, later suffered depression and has been unable to return to work.

Unison, which represented Carter, claimed she had only been on one manual handling course in 12 years and was left to work one-to-one with the resident with a history of poor mobility and falls.

General secretary Dave Prentis said a proper risk assessment would have revealed the need for more regular training.

The council’s head of health and social care, Stephen Chandler, said: “Support staff do receive training in manual handling and the accompanying procedures are robust and effective. However, since this unfortunate accident the council has, as a matter of course, reviewed procedures and believes it has taken every reasonable step to minimise future risks.”