McKinlay v The Village by Scalabrini Nursing Home - [2025] NSWPIC 213

CERTIFICATE OF DETERMINATION OF MEMBER

CITATION: McKinlay v The Village by Scalabrini Nursing Home [2025] NSWPIC 213

APPLICANT: Walter McKinlay

RESPONDENT: The Village by Scalabrini Nursing Home

MEMBER: Carolyn Rimmer

DATE OF DECISION: 16 May 2025

CATCHWORDS: WORKERS COMPENSATION - Workers Compensation Act 1987; claim for lump sum compensation following hernia injury; disputed secondary condition to digestive system alleged to have occurred from ingestion of medication following multiple surgical procedures after the hernia injury; dispute as to the terms of referral of accepted conditions in the genitofemoral nerve, Ilioinguinal nerve, and Iliohypogastric nerve; Held – award for the applicant with respect to the consequential gastrointestinal condition; body systems to be referred to a Medical Assessor for the purposes of assessing permanent impairment to include the nervous system (genitofemoral nerve, Ilioinguinal nerve, and Iliohypogastric nerve).

DETERMINATIONS MADE:
The Commission determines:

1.     Award for the applicant with respect to the consequential gastrointestinal condition.

2.     This matter is remitted to the President for referral to a Medical Assessor for assessment as follows:

Date of injury: 18 September 2018.

Body systems/parts: digestive system (hernia and consequential gastrointestinal condition); nervous system (genitofemoral nerve, Ilioinguinal nerve, Iliohypogastric nerve); TEMSKI/scarring; urinary/reproductive system, and lower extremity (right femoral nerve).

Method of assessment: whole person impairment.

3.     All documents attached to the Application to Resolve a Dispute, and the Reply and the Amended Application to Resolve a Dispute (form only) are to be sent to the Medical Assessor.

A brief statement is attached setting out the Commission’s reasons for the determination.

STATEMENT OF REASONS
BACKGROUND
1.On 3 February 2025, Walter McKinlay (the applicant) lodged an Application to Resolve a Dispute (the application) in the Personal Injury Commission (Commission). The applicant’s employer at the relevant time was The Village By Scalabrini Nursing Home (the respondent). The respondent was insured by Catholic Church Insurances Limited at the relevant time. The applicant made a claim for lump sum compensation pursuant to s 66 of the WorkersCompensationAct1987 (1987 Act).
2.On 18 September 2018, the applicant, in the course of his employment with the respondent as a maintenance supervisor, was pushing a mower in order to lift the front wheels to get over a gutter when he experienced severe pain in his groin and lower abdomen. The applicant sustained an injury (namely, a hernia and injury to his reproductive system, and   developed in the peripheral nerves, namely, the iliohypogastric nerve, the ilioinguinal nerve, the genitofemoral nerve and the right femoral nerve) and scarring as a result of the injury on 18 September 2018. The applicant alleged that he developed a consequential condition in his digestive system as a result of the injury on 18 September 2018.
3.The insurer, in a Section 78 Notice dated 6 December 2024, disputed whether the applicant had a secondary gastrointestinal condition.

ISSUES FOR DETERMINATION
4.The parties agree that the following issues remain in dispute:
(a) whether the applicant has a secondary gastrointestinal condition as a result of the injury on 18 September 2018, and
(b)…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading McKinlay v The Village by Scalabrini Nursing Home

Details

AGLC: McKinlay v The Village by Scalabrini Nursing Home [2025] NSWPIC 213
Case: [2025] NSWPIC 213
Decision Date: 16 May 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of McKinlay versus The Village by Scalabrini Nursing Home, the applicant sought compensation for a hernia injury sustained during employment. The dispute involved whether a secondary condition affecting the digestive system, allegedly caused by the ingestion of medication post-surgery, was related to the initial injury. Additionally, there was contention regarding the accepted conditions related to the genitofemoral nerve, Ilioinguinal nerve, and Iliohypogastric nerve, and the referral terms for these conditions.

The court needed to decide if the digestive condition was a consequence of the hernia injury and whether the referral terms for the nerve-related conditions were correctly defined. The court also needed to determine the appropriate body systems to be assessed by a Medical Assessor for permanent impairment purposes.

The court ruled in favour of the applicant, finding that the digestive condition was related to the hernia injury and should be compensated. The court clarified the referral terms for the nerve-related conditions, stating they were correctly identified. Furthermore, the court specified that the nervous system, including the genitofemoral nerve, Ilioinguinal nerve, and Iliohypogastric nerve, should be referred to a Medical Assessor for the assessment of permanent impairment. The court's decision resulted in an award for the applicant concerning the consequential gastrointestinal condition.

Orders