A FORMER nurse is suing Southend Hospital for damages of up to £25,000 amid claims she fractured her shoulder after tripping over a broken parking barrier.

Pauline Fowles, 55, claims the hospital was negligent by leaving the metal barrier knocked over flat and sticking out of a parking bay.

Miss Fowles, from Pitsea, who was a Basildon Hospital nurse for 25 years, has filed papers at Southend County Court.

They state: “The claimant sustained a comminuted, intra-articular fracture of the head and neck of the left shoulder.

“The claimant has ongoing symptoms of pain and loss of function in her left shoulder.”

Miss Fowles says in the claim she was injured after falling over the barrier on her way to visit a friend, who was in the Cardigan Ward, after parking in the car park.

Echo:

Fractured shoulder: Pauline Fowles

She alleges the hospital trust was negligent because it did not repair the barrier or put up any warning signs or barriers to limit the risk of people tripping over it.

The hospital has yet to file a defence to the allegations surrounding the fall said to have happened on or around January 27, 2010.

The case was adjourned for trial in September at which Christopher McCullough, a consultant orthopedic surgeon, will give evidence for her.

Sue Hardy, chief nurse at Southend Hospital, said: “We would like to sincerely apologise to Miss Fowles for the distress caused by the injuries she sustained.

“The hospital has admitted liability and the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) is currently in negotiations with Miss Fowles’s representatives.”