Insight
A case manager’s role in a seriously injured person recovery cannot be understated, write David Withers, partner at Irwin Mitchell.
When Sarah’s mother was in labour, the hospital staff failed to pick up on what should have been worrying signals coming from the CTG monitor. After experiencing lack of oxygen at birth, Sarah* was diagnosed with mild athetoid cerebral palsy as a baby. By age five she had vision problems and required occasional use of a wheelchair. She could finger feed, although it was somewhat clumsy and her parents had to help her at mealtimes. Liquids also had to be thickened to make drinking easier. Her manual dexterity was poor and she was susceptible to chest infections. The hospital Trust denied liability for Sarah’s injury and so a protracted liability trial followed.
Dysphagia is an all-too common adversary of neuro-rehab patients, and the professionals who care for them. Some studies suggest the swallowing disorder is experienced in as many as 93 per cent of people admitted to brain injury rehab centres (Hansel et al, 2008). It will affect around one in two stroke survivors, according to the Stroke Association, and roughly at least a third of people with MS. Meanwhile, over 80 per cent of people with Parkinson’s may be affected (Suttrup et al, 2016).
“Trust in God and you will be alright,” read a sign that greeted Professor Barbara Wilson on a recent trip to a Nigerian hospital. This was an instant reminder to the neuropsychologist of how attitudes towards healthcare are so varied around the world. She was there to share her experience gained from more than 40 years in the brain injury rehabilitation field. Joining her were fellow eminent professors Wayne Feng and David Good from the US and Caterina Pistarini of Italy. The trip, last December, was the latest stop of the globe-trotting initiative, the Flying Faculty. The scheme is run by the World Federation for Neuro-rehabilitation (WFNR) and delivers expert training programmes in neuro-rehab across the world.
If an individual suffers an injury on the road through the negligence of a driver, they will recover compensation.
This is because of the provisions within Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Even if there was no insurance attaching to the vehicle, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau would satisfy any unsatisfied Judgment. But there are numerous cases in which insurers in road traffic accident cases have tried a variety of methods to avoid liability including seeking a statutory declaration, asserting that the insurance policy is only relevant if the policyholder was driving or in the vehicle, and stating that the use of the vehicle was different to that which was insured.
People living with a brain injury or neurological condition should have more access to employment than ever before. But experts in the field paint a very different picture; in which individuals are struggling to find employment, withdrawing from work all together and experiencing discrimination. In July 2019, the Neurological Alliance published the most comprehensive survey undertaken of people living with neurological conditions. It found that one in three respondents have been discriminated against as a result of their condition, and almost a third (29 per cent) have had their contract of employment terminated.
It started, as with many modern love stories, with a swipe. In 2015, Paul van Donkelaar, a recently divorced neuroscience professor, met Karen Mason, a woman working with survivors of intimate partner violence. They started dating and fell in love. To begin with, they were just another couple who happened to have found their happily ever after through online dating. But it soon became clear that there were bigger forces at play. “We’re definitely unique,” says Karen, who is executive director of Kelowna Women’s Shelter in British Columbia, Canada.
Paula Walters was strangled by her boyfriend in 2006. “I remember him putting his hands around my throat and thinking, ‘I’m going to die’.” For years afterwards she kept forgetting things, struggling to concentrate and losing control of her emotions. At her lowest point, she even tried to take her own life. What Paula didn’t know, was that her symptoms were not because she was “crazy” or “stupid”.
Hopelessness can’t be predicted within the first three days a brain injury, says Dr John Whyte. Yet, as he has learned in decades of working with disorders of consciousness (DOC), many doctors assume otherwise. Faced with an unconscious head trauma survivor and their devastated loved ones, all too often decisions are taken to unplug the machine; halting potential recovery journeys before they’ve begun.
The progression of motor neurone disease can be cruelly fast. The last thing families affected by it need, then, are delays in getting the vital support they are entitled to. But in households across the UK, red tape and the stuttering mechanics of local councils are causing needless hold ups in essential home alterations. Ultimately, people with the disease are becoming trapped in unsuitable housing conditions, a new study has found.
