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Boy’s Falling Accident A five-year-old boy whilst playing on holiday fell from a climbing frame and suffered serious head injuries.  He had landed head first on a concrete block at Penstowe Manor near Bude, Cornwall.

Tripping Accident. A 19 year old student, Andrew Mullen, was left in a coma for 9 days after falling over.  He had been running across the road to catch a bus when he tripped in a pothole.  Press reports confirm he was taken to hospital with swelling on the brain and a massive skull fracture, which extended from his right eye to the forehead and from the side of his head to the back. 

Sarah Burke is in critical condition with a severe brain injury following a practice run accident at Park City, Utah on 10 January 2012.  The 29 years old freestyle skiing champion was airlifted to hospital and placed into a coma, to relieve stress on her brain, before surgery to repair a torn vertebral artery.  The artery supplies blood to the brainstem (which controls consciousness) and a tear can disrupt blood supply and cause cranial bleeding, which may lead to brain damage or death.

As one in four UK babies is delivered by caesarean, the new Guidelines on Caesarean sections issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in November 2011 will affect many people.

One of the most common debilitating aspects of head injury, is its impact on the victim’s ability to drive and so their independence.  The DVLA must be notified when anyone suffers a seizure to decide if they can still drive.  In straightforward cases the DVLA may take 3 weeks to decide, but can take up to 3 months if further investigations are required.  As well as notifying the DVLA, a head injury victim must also notify their motor insurers of the injury and epilepsy.

Christmas Season For many of us, part of this Christmas season includes enjoying a drink at home, at a party or on a night out. We all know of the police annual “Don’t Drink and Drive” campaigns, a stark reminder of the dangers of drinking alcohol and driving causing road accidents, which can result in head injury.

Football Research Yeshiva University, USA research indicates that football players who frequently head the ball display brain injury similar to concussion, a mild traumatic brain injury.

When you suffer a traumatic head injury following an accident or clinical negligence, you may be affected in a number of different ways, such as Physical, Hormonal, Sensory, Cognitive, Emotional or Behavioural Effects.
 

Head Injury : Facts - In the UK approximately:
Three-quarters of people with head injuries are male
One-fifth of people with head injuries are 65 years of age or over
Half of people with head injuries are children
Two-thirds of head injuries in adults involve alcohol.
 

A 28 year old former hospital manager, David Atherley, is suing hotel owners after falling and hitting his head on concrete, during a visit to his partner who worked at the hotel. He suffered life-changing head injuries that have left him with memory and sensory problems, and a risk of developing epilepsy and dementia. 

Headway, the brain injury charity, recently voiced its concern that the Welfare Reform Bill will make it harder for brain injured people to access the appropriate level of state help they need, to live as fully and independently as possible.
 

Increased Speed Limit v Increased Injury. Britain has some of the safest motorways in Europe, however proposals to raise the 70mph speed limit to 80mph would jeopardise this safety record in the name of the economy. The Department of Transport in arguing that the new 80mph limit will shorten journey times and help boost the economy.

After a workman fell whilst trying to climb on the roof of a forklift to carry out work to the lifting equipment, the Health and Safety Executive investigation found this was common practice at his workplace, even though workers should have been given a stepladder or mobile steps to reach the equipment safely.

A recent Court decision involving a brain injured 10 year old girl has important implications
for seriously brain injured claimants.  The girl suffered brain damage and blindness
following premature birth and a misdiagnosis in her medical treatment.  She was likely to
need care and support in her adult life, but an expert considered it was too early to predict
how dependent she would be as an adult, and so recommended that her care needs were
reviewed when she reached the age of 16.

Statistically, over 100,000 people in the UK are admitted to hospital every year with some form of head injury.  Whilst a lot of those admissions are thankfully only for minor head injury, many are for serious head injury.  Falls are one of the leading causes of serious head injury and the elderly are particularly susceptible to suffering serious head injury following a fall.

In a non-clinical accident, an injured person will usually know enough about their accident so that they can take specialised legal advice on pursuing a claim for rehabilitation and just compensation.  This contrasts with clinical negligence accidents, when the injured patient may not even be told that they have been the possible victim of clinical negligence. The Government’s White Paper “Liberating the NHS” seeks to redress this issue with a proposed duty of candour.

HeadInjury UK wishes Dan Seaborne, the Southampton football player, a complete and speedy recovery from his serious head injuries.  He suffered his serious head injuries in an alleged assault outside a nightclub in Southampton which is the subject of a criminal investigation.  His manager has confirmed he is now out of hospital although it is unknown when he will return to playing.

Now that the Tour de France is over for another year, with an Australian rider winning for the first time in its history, lots of budding cyclists are out on the roads dreaming of winning the Tour.  Whilst the fun and health benefits of cycling are undisputed, it does carry risk particularly when riding on busy roads. 

Going into labour can be an exciting time for expectant mothers and their families. However, it can also be emotive and worrisome. With the number of births in 2010 reaching records of 723,165 live births, a rise of 2.4 per cent from 2009, it is alarming to hear that in England and Wales there is a significant shortage of midwives.

In 2009, 472 motorcyclists died and 5,350 were seriously injured in road collisions in Great Britain. The numbers of motorcyclist that have been killed or seriously injured have fallen since 2008 when 493 motorcyclists were killed and 5,556 were seriously injured on Britain's roads. 50% of motorcycle accidents occurred in collisions involving another vehicle at junctions.

An Orthopaedic injury relates to any injury of the bones, muscles and joints. As you can imagine every day people suffer injuries which result in them requiring care from an orthopaedic expert.

If you have received treatment from a doctor, dentist or other healthcare professional, which is negligent then you may be entitled to claim compensation. For a clinical negligence claim to be successful and for compensation to be awarded the patient must prove:

2.   Secondly that the unacceptable standard of care by the medic has caused an injury and/or additional pain and suffering. This is known as the ‘causation test’.

Whilst it is possible for you to informally access your medical records either by asking your doctor during a consultation or calling you GP surgery, the more usual way to obtain your medical records is to make a formal application to the healthcare provider from where you are receiving treatment.

It is very common for people to suffer with lower back pain or sciatica. Usually, the symptoms can be alleviated with rest, physiotherapy, pain relief, or minimally invasive procedures. However, in some cases it is possible that lower back pain could be indicative of something much more serious.