Legal

The development of the internet and social media has fundamentally changed the way in which people exchange information and engage with society. Use of the internet and social media is said to be of particular importance for people with disabilities, as it can offer opportunities for social inclusion, learning new skills and enhanced autonomy. However, using the internet and social media can also expose vulnerable people to the risk of abuse and predatory behaviour and the risks associated with accessing inappropriate content. It is therefore important that, when a person lacks the mental capacity to make decisions regarding their use of the internet and social media, steps are taken to ensure that their access to social media or the internet is managed in their best interests.

Having spent over 20 years as a physiotherapist, I remember the initial problems experienced by patients and healthcare professionals in ensuring an effective joined up approach to rehabilitation. This was especially noticeable as patients moved between stages of recovery in acute centres and then on to rehabilitation in the community.  This gave rise to the initial concept of the Rehabilitation Prescription (RP) a decade ago. Having since retrained as a serious injury lawyer, I see similar issues still affecting my clients today. The RP should set out exactly what treatment is required for an individual in the aftermath of a serious injury, a bespoke approach to each patient’s specific needs.

There is more to being a good medico-legal expert than being a good doctor. It is rare to win a clinical negligence case (and this is my field) without good experts. But sometimes cases go wrong because the expert lets a client down. With the right expert evidence, people who should get damages win their cases but those who should not, do not pursue claims (and hopefully understand why). Costs are incurred on the right cases. My goal is for the right people to get damages and for the health service not to spend the minimum on costs in the process. With the right expert evidence, people who should get damages win their cases but those who should not, do not pursue claims (and hopefully understand why). Costs are incurred on the right cases. My goal is for the right people to get damages and for the health service not to spend the minimum on costs in the process. So after many years of running clinical negligence claims, here are 10 top tips on how to be a good medical expert.

After being assaulted in 1998, Dean Harding’s life was turned upside down. Years of rehabilitation followed to help him cope with his traumatic brain injury. But the world of work seemed a place he would never return to, believing that he “wasn’t capable”.

However, the birth of his son 17 years later changed his whole outlook on life.

“I didn't want him growing up thinking, ‘why isn't my dad working?’,” remembers Dean.

“Most people work, or they’re supposed to. It gives me a sense of feeling like a ‘normal’ person, although I've still got my disabilities.”

Research by Calvert Reconnections and Exchange Chambers examined the effectiveness of the brain injury recovery process through a series of interviews with the country’s most senior brain injury solicitors. While 71 per cent said the NHS is unable to provide effective support for brain injured patients, the vast majority (97 per cent) expressed concerns about the lack of residential-based brain injury rehab units in the UK. Delays and early resistance continue to be claimant lawyers’ main concerns with insurers handling brain injury cases. Positively, however, solicitors believe greater cooperation by insurers has been the greatest advance over the past three years.

I recently read an article in a British Safety Council publication referencing HSE annual statistics noting that prosecutions for health and safety breaches were at a record low, with 2018/19 prosecutions down by 23 per cent from 2017/18 numbers, and more than a third since 2014/15. Concern was expressed that some employers were prepared to ignore health and safety laws believing that they would never be “caught”. Whilst it has always been the case that some element of employers are prepared to flout health and safety regulations for profit, or simply through recklessness, the concern is whether the proportion prepared to ignore these laws is growing or decreasing; whether the trend is going in the right direction.

A medico-legal expert’s duty is to the Court. They have a duty to be independent. They should have this duty at the forefront of their mind when carrying out their assessment(s) and when preparing their report(s). An expert’s evidence will be completely undermined if it transpires that they are saying what the party who is paying them wants to say unless that is their genuine view. It should go without saying that experts should be courteous to the Claimant and their families both during the assessment and in the report. There is an increase in Claimants seeking to record expert assessments either covertly or overtly.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-GiDOXvU-c Cambridgeshire dad Jason was on holiday in Portugal in 2012 when his life changed forever. A car hit him during an early morning bike ride, breaking his back, legs and ribs and severing his spine. Jason, from Littleport, received treatment for three weeks in Lisbon, before being moved to Cambridge. He then spent a further three months at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. Here specialists gave him the devastating news that he would never walk again. Jason and his family contacted Irwin Mitchell’s specialist serious injury solicitors about making a claim to help fund his ongoing care needs.

A case manager’s role in a seriously injured person recovery cannot be understated, write David Withers, partner at Irwin Mitchell.

Rehabilitation on catastrophic injury cases should work for both claimants and defendants, subject of course to liability attaching to the defendant or being likely to attach. At the outset of a serious injury case, claimants generally have two short-term priorities:

• Alleviate financial hardship
• Maximise their recovery through effective rehabilitation.