A hospital has apologised after a man being treated for spinal injuries fell from a hoist - giving him life-changing brain damage. Andrew Kent, 45, is now unable to walk, talk, shower or feed himself, his mum says.
Andrew, a gardener, was admitted to Northwick Park Hospital after being badly hurt in a motorbike crash. He then fell from a hoist used to transfer him between his bed and wheelchair during treatment.
This left him with damage to his frontal lobe - which means he now needs round-the-clock care. Andrew's mum Vicki Gooding, 64, has become his full-time carer.
She said: “I have to be with my son - I’m just not prepared to send him off to a home. He has two head injuries and he’s a completely different person.
"He hasn’t been able to have a shower or bath for two years, and if he can’t be hoisted onto the toilet, he just can’t go. For obvious reasons, he’s still absolutely terrified of the hoist.”
Andrew, from Barnet, north London, was involved a motorbike accident in February 2022 and sent to Northwick Park in Harrow, Middlesex. He had fractures to his cervical spine, his skull, forearms and ribs - and permanently lost the function of his arms and legs.
Vicki said: “Andrew had just nipped out to my mum’s on a motorbike - it was 7 o’clock in the evening. He was on his way home and a car just pulled out on him.” Andrew was treated at Northwick Park, where staff would use a sling and hoist to transfer him from his hospital bed.
But on May 10, 2022, he fell. Andrew was then immediately sent for CT scans of his head - which showed he’d suffered a brain haemorrhage as a result of the fall.
Vicki said: “Andrew was getting on just fine before his second accident - he was working well with physiotherapists and even seemed to show signs of slight improvement. But after the fall from the hoist, there was just nothing left of him. He was so much worse.”
Andrew was later transferred to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. And he was finally sent home on May 5, 2023 - nearly a year on from the fall.
He now receives constant care from a team of physiotherapists, his mum, girlfriend and other family members. But while she’s desperate to keep living with her son, Vicki admits her home is inaccessible.
She said: “He spends his days lying in a hospital bed in my living room. There’s no dignity about it at all - carers come in every day and change him, and I’m barely able to give him any privacy. I kicked off at Barnet Council and told them we desperately need a wheelchair ramp. Andrew has a powerchair but it’s no good if he can’t actually leave the house.
“He needs regular exercise because it helps with the physio - but I’m just at a loss. He can’t shower or bath - he hasn’t done so for two years. We need somewhere bigger - we keep slipping down the list of priorities and I just don’t see how you could get someone more disabled than Andrew.
“I want to keep us all together. He needs the support of his family.” Northwick Park carried out an internal probe following the fall.
It concluded that the sling and hoist used were both adequate and operational. But it added that the weight of the sling hooks may have contributed to Andrew’s fall.
Vicki later received a letter from the hospital, saying it was "extremely sorry" for the incident. But she said: “I don’t accept their apology and we were disgusted by the letter. There hasn’t been any help.”
A spokesperson for Northwick Park said: "We are very sorry for the injury sustained by Mr Kent and have apologised to him and his family. As part of our serious incident investigation, we have already undertaken an extensive review of our training and equipment checks and have made changes to prevent such an incident from occurring again.
"As part of this process, we have shared our investigation report and learning from it with Mr Kent and his family." In relation to Andrew and Vicky's accommodation, a Barnet Homes spokesperson said: "Barnet Homes allocates all properties according to Barnet Council's Housing Allocations Scheme, which uses a banding system.
"Ms Gooding is currently in our highest priority band and we are actively seeking an alternative property for the family, which will meet their needs. In this case, we will be offering the family a two-bedroom wheelchair-adapted property when one becomes available, acknowledging that there is an acute shortage of social housing in London, and this may take some time.
"We will also ensure that this property is as close as possible to Ms Gooding’s support network. Work began this month to install a suitable access ramp to Ms Gooding’s current home. Initial works to install the ramp had taken place earlier this year, but a change in the family’s equipment needs caused a delay, which has now been resolved."
