Son needs an operation following camp, is there negligence

[Cubic]

My son went on an organised camp with a well known youth organisation. He fell playing a game and has dislocated his shoulder. It has since dislocated again and the consultant says he now needs an operation to strengthen the joint and hopefully stop it dislocating in the future.

Mil has suggested we look into a personal injury claim but I'm not sure there is any negligence on the part of the camp, it was an accident. She's raised the point that it could cause problems in different areas of his life etc

Has anyone any experience of something similar or know if it would be classed as negligence? Surely accidents are just accidents sometimes?

I think it depends on the game , the environment and the aftercare. If they were playing british bulldog, with no risk assessment of the rock strewn terrain and mixed ages (small 10 yr olds and large 16 yrs olds) where injury likely to occur then that's negligent of the adults supervising the game. Did your child receive first aid? ice packs? was the shoulder clearly dislocated? was he taken to a&e straight away?
If not, and he was left untreated, again, negligence.

If kids aren't allowed to run around anymore for fear of injury and being sued then I hope the kids going on camp like arts and crafts with play sissors

OP does your DS have any signs of being what we used to call ‘double jointed’, or stretchy skin anywhere on his body? Can he bend his fingers/thumbs back further than most people can?

It was while they were playing
netball and hockey. It happens. How
were the organisers negligent?

Are the organisers pushing your children to hard and that's what caused them to get their injury's or they are not being trained correctly.

I have never come across an ordinary camp that has personal accident insurance for all children for any accidents. This would be expensive if any family can claim for any accident a child has even though no one is at fault. Children have accidents all the time.

And most insurance policies have an excess so the organisation would have to pay this.
I used to volunteer lots with kids. I would never do this these days. Too many parents ready to jump on volunteers and staff for everyday accidents and incidents.

https://www.protectivity.com/product/summer-camp-insurance/

No they were just playing the sport. It happens. Dd2 caught a ball hard and awkwardly in netball - broken finger. Dd2 fell awkwardly while going for the hockey ball - broken ankle. Genuine accidents what could the supervisors/ teachers have done to prevent?

Yeah there is usually 'what can I milk out of this'

The camp should have insurance and public liability is included. The ops son needs surgery who knows how long he will take to recover. She has a strong claim.

HNRTFT but can honestly say that children/ teenagers have accidents wherever they are . My youngest went to AE so often with school accidents/ sport and leisure that inwas actually asked if I had a SW !! Of course you don’t claim off insurance!

@Carpediemmakeitcount that says nothing about personal accidental injury cover. They are talking about cover for negligence.

IF that's true, then I hope that PO never allows his children to drive, go on class trips, ride a bike, play any type of organized team or solo sport or let them participate in phys ed or recess.
FFS

Op I see you aren’t engaging on age, but previous threads show a son who’s completed his GCSEs and thinking on uni. Not sure if you’ve two sons?

also shoulder stabilisation surgery is key hole surgery that has about a 95% success rate and is really common in kids who’s shoulder dislocated, often through contact sports, very common. There will be some physio after and he can do those exercises within a few days and back to heavy lifting within about 3 months.

it really isn’t life changing surgery as someone suggested and I am guessing you and your mil know this, as well as the risks of him having issues in later life very minimal.

OP said he dislocated his shoulder - hardly a life long disability.

He fell over… there’s no hook for the camp to be let off. People like OP will close camps down so that no children get to go away. At the very least their insurance will be sky high so only the rich can afford to go. What a money grabbing family. If I was the leader at his school/ club I’d refuse to take her son on any more trips or camps.

But it was an accident! Your son fell over in a field. Are you going to Sue every time he does this? Has he never fallen over with you? Insurance will no doubt pay (it will be cheaper than going to court) and the camp’s premiums will go up which will make it unaffordable in the future ( except for you because you’ll have your pay out). Hope that , in the future, yours child’s school and groups won’t take him on camp because of your money grabbing, blame culture attitude.

Ignore people making moral judgments here. The law is what it is and we all have every right to follow it. If the youth organisation was at fault in some way, then they absolutely should cover the cost of an operation rather than the NHS. On the other hand, if they were not at fault, then they needn't pay out. I cannot see what is unfair/cheeky/immoral about that.

@Janieforever yes I have more children. No I won't disclose ages.

Post surgery recovery is 6 months not 3 months as per the consultant. 4 weeks minimum off school following the operation in an exam year.

Nhs wait times put the op Feb/ March next year so exams are likely to be impacted.

@FSTraining thank you, I'm not concerned about the judgement on here. Most posters learly haven't read the thread.

If they have accident insurance which covers this ofcourse I'm going to claim to see if the op can be speeded up. What's the point of the insurance if it isn't to be used?

Also just to be clear the initial post was concerning mil and whether there was a claim for personal injury via negligence/ suing. I have never said that this is something that I feel I should do, in fact the opposite.

I have said I'll claim if they have accident cover which after a quick Google appears to pay out if someone in injured in an accident (non fault) and would help to speed up recovery which is exactly what it is there for. This has been suggested on this thread.

For further clarity, the impact on premiums isn't the fault of people with genuine claims save that for those who make fraudulent claims. My son was hurt on a camp and requires an operation and physio which fingers crossed will fix it.

I do believe and have stated many times that accidents can be the fault of those who organised the activity and sometimes accidents are accidents.

I am clearly not going to reply to each post individually especially where posts are repeated and the poster hasn't read the thread and is making a snap judgement based on possible troll posts.

There are no troll posts, op. Disagreeing with you isn't trolling 🙄

So trolls are people that disagree with you?

Regarding life long issues/ disability/ future impact if the surgery doesn't work he is likely to suffer dislocations very easily. This is the impact and although he is young it can stop him from pursuing certain careers which he shows a current interest in.

He also has a moderate fracture from the incident which will heal (hopefully) yes you can see the break but it didn't break the skin.

Were you there when OP's child was hurt?

Disagreeing no, not trolling. Repeatedly posting in an argumentative way with other posters and making statements that aren't correct eg weak joints/ intent to sue is trolling.