A bag of rubbish is at the centre of a legal stoush between a Far North hospital and a long-term employee. Doris Victoria Busuttil, who worked at Babinda Hospital for about 20 years, is suing for $463,300 in a negligence lawsuit over a back injury she claims occurred at work. Ms Busuttil was an operations officer. On the day she was injured, in April 2015, she had been taking rubbish from the kitchen to an industrial bin outside the hospital building. She is about 140cm tall and the edge of the bin sits above her head. According to documents filed in the Cairns District Court this month, the then-55 year-old was forced to lift the rubbish bag above her head to dispose of it in the bin. Ms Busuttil claims this resulted in an injury to her lower back. She has suffered a moderate lumbar spine injury resulting in increased back and leg pain and consequential restriction of movement and has been unable to return to work. Since the incident, Ms Busuttil claims she has racked up more than $100,000 in medical expenses and lost wages. She has a history of lower back pain while working at the hospital, which resulted in her taking time off in 2009. Ms Busuttil claims the hospital either knew or should have known the task involved a risk. The paperwork said if the hospital had delegated this task to others or and alternative system was available, the injury would not have occurred. Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Clare Douglas said the hospital was unable to provide a statement as the Health Service has not yet been served with any court documents.
