A senior nurse who suffered a crippling back injury lifting a hospital theatre table has been awarded nearly £30,000 compensation because no risk assessment was carried out on the task.

Theatre sister Shelley Quantrill damaged her lower back lifting part of a theatre table at South Tyneside District Hospital four years ago.

The mother-of-three, who was 41 at the time, was off work for six months and although she resumed her job, still suffers from the effects of the accident, the County Court in Newcastle heard.

Liability was admitted by her employer, South Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust, earlier and damages of £29,739 were awarded by Judge Judith Moir yesterday.

Judge Moir praised Mrs Quantrill, of South Shields, who she said had "stoically" returned to work as soon as she could and continued to suffer difficulties with her back.

The award includes damages for loss of earnings, the cost of home help and compensation for pain and suffering. The court heard Mrs Quantrill cannot stand for long or carry out heavy work, her activities are restricted and she still has pain which disrupts her sleep.

Her solicitor David Mole said the accident had happened when Mrs Quantrill lifted the end of the table by herself: "It was too heavy to be lifted by one person without the aid of other equipment and she was injured," he said.

"The authority accepted 100 per cent liability. They had not assessed the risk of lifting this heavy object."

Mr Mole, of Thompson's law firm, said the case had been brought to court with the financial backing of Ms Quantrill's union Unison.

He said: "Mrs Quantrill is relieved the court proceedings have been successfully concluded and would like to pay tribute to her employer and in particular, the ongoing support of her immediate colleagues and line manager."

Unison regional secretary Gill Hale welcomed the settlement, but said: "We would like to see a greater emphasis on health and safety which would prevent accidents like this in the first place."

A spokesman said last night: "The South Tyneside Health Care Trust regrets the circumstances leading to the injury sustained by Mrs Quantrill.

"The trust accepted its responsibility for this injury and the only outstanding issue was the amount of compensation to be paid.

"The trust is pleased that this matter has now been settled and hopes that the payment will go some way to compensating Mrs Quantrill for her injury."

The trust made headlines this month when it was revealed Dr Feyi Awotona, a former consultant gynaecologist at the same hospital, had been paid £100,000 to sit at home because hospital chiefs had still not agreed terms for her to return to work nearly six years after she was unfairly dismissed.

A spokesman for the trust said it had been agreed Dr Awotona be re-instated but the venue for re-entry training had yet to be agreed.

The matter will be heard at a tribunal this week.