Brain Injury Expertise Recognised
by Robert Bell, February 10th, 2012
Mayo Wynne Baxter is delighted to confirm the continuation of its association with Headway, the Brain Injury Association, www.headway.org.uk. The catastrophic injury team’s expertise in brain injury work has been acknowledged once again through inclusion on Headway’s list of specialist solicitors. Headway recognises that a brain injury can impact every aspect of a person’s life and of those around them and that lawyers representing brain injured claimants require specialist skills to effectively run the claim and to ensure that claimants and their families are supported in the best possible way. To be included on Headway’s list firms are required to meet a set of stringent criteria which demonstrate a proven track record in successfully pursuing claims for brain injured clients.
Mayo Wynne Baxter is also a founding member of the pioneering Brain Injury Group, www.braininjurygroup.co.uk, which comprises around 50 of the country’s leading brain injury law firms. The group is designed not only to ensure that brain injured clients have access to the very best legal advice, but also that their financial, social and care needs are met at the earliest possible stage. The Brain Injury Group lawyers work with a range of other brain injury specialists to achieve this. This unique holistic approach to brain injury work was rewarded last year when the Brain Injury Group received an award for innovation at the annual UK Brain Injury Forum Awards in November 2011.
By Robert Bell
Amy Pickard’s tragic story shows importance of inquests
by Emma Grose-McCall, December 8th, 2011
Inquests are never happy events but yesterday I witnessed one of the saddest stories I’ve heard in a long time. Amy Pickard was 17-years-old and seven months pregnant when she experienced a heroin-induced brain injury. Her mother Thelma Pickard was with Amy every day for the eight years she remained in a coma, until her unexpected death in October 2009.
During that time a worldwide trial of a drug found to awaken coma patients helped Amy breathe by herself, swallow small amounts of food and begin to communicate. Thelma planned to bring her home in 2010 but ten days after moving to a new care home in Hastings Amy passed away overnight. An inquest was called to investigate what happened.
While it did not make easy listening the proceedings at Hastings County Court gave Amy’s family and friends important facts about the events that led to her death. Like many bereaved parents Thelma Pickard took the stand and remained calm and grounded throughout.
After hearing all the evidence Coroner Alan Craze judged that Amy was not an addicted drug user and the day she slipped into a coma may have been the first time she had taken heroin by injection. He recorded a verdict of death by ‘non-dependent use of drugs’ and judged that on the balance of probabilities Amy finally suffered a ‘cerebro-corticogenic’ cardiac arrhythmia which led to her death.
Whilst it can involve reliving painful events most bereaved people we work with find the inquest process helpful in understanding the circumstances surrounding a sudden death. Conclusions reached at inquest can also inform decisions on health policies and improve care for others if the Coroner makes recommendations.
For example another inquest we were involved in this year is sparking improvements in training on anaphylaxis. 29-year-old Sacha Rumaner died in a dental surgery in Brighton after a sudden, extremely rare allergic reaction to an ingredient in mouthwash.
Dental staff had very little time to react and there is no certainty Sacha would have survived even with instant treatment, but Coroner Karen Henderson judged the failure to recognise anaphylactic shock removed the window of opportunity to administer adrenaline. She recorded death by medical misadventure and made several recommendations to aid training for dental staff and ambulance crews. As well as saving lives, improvements like this aim to protect health professionals from awful situations.
Our clinical negligence team at Mayo Wynne Baxter is one of the few in the South East to specialise in representing people at inquest. We help families discover the answers they need.
Brain Injury Specialists
by Jason Edge, November 16th, 2011
We are celebrating the success of the Brain Injury Group – of which Mayo Wynne Baxter is founding member – having won an award for innovation and inspiration last Thursday (10th November) at The United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) Awards.
“We are delighted that the Brain Injury Group gained recognition for its innovation in the field of brain injury “ said our Head of Clinical Negligence, Melanie Minter. “Having already set up our own Catastrophic Injury Unit it made sense to join the Group to bring about significant benefits in the way brain injury claims and rehabilitation are carried out and it’s good to see that we have won professional praise and an Award.”
The Brain Injury Group is a national network of specialist brain injury lawyers working in tandem with a range of other professionals involved in welfare, financial and family services to support people with acquired brain injuries. Bringing all these elements together under the Brain Injury Group banner creates a clear route for brain injured clients and their families to access the support they need from accident through rehabilitation and on to compensation. By having members across the country, the Brain Injury Group ensures its clients and their families can find specialist brain injury advice and a full range of support services close to home.
When presenting the Award Bill Braithwaite QC said: “The creation and development of the Brain Injury Group will doubtless be a significant step forwards in providing an improved service to all those who suffer serious brain injury.”
Critical Shortage of Midwives
by Robert Bell, September 15th, 2011
A report produced by the Royal College of Midwives paints a worrying picture of the provision of midwifery services throughout theUK.
The RCM report calls for 4,700 more midwives and claims that the government has failed to follow through on previous promises to increase the number of midwives nationwide. It speaks of the shortage of midwives putting mothers and babies at risk. The Department of Health retorted by pointing out that record numbers of midwives are currently being trained.
The need for an ever increasing number of midwives is a consequence not only of the rise in the birth rate, but also the growing number of obese and older mothers-to-be whose management is complex, requiring greater midwife involvement.
The picture is not the same across the country with some areas experiencing as much as a 41% shortfall in midwife numbers, whereas in other areas it is less than 10%. The shortfall in the South East is about 33%. The RCM points out that in areas which are most stretched, mothers will inevitably have much less choice about where and how they deliver their babies.
The charity ‘Action Against Medical Accidents’ (AvMA) renewed its calls for this problem to be urgently addressed and pointed to how this shortfall in resources can often translate into tragedy for affected families. Mayo Wynne Baxter’s extensive experience of brain injury claims certainly shows the root cause of negligent management during birth is often an inadequately staffed labour ward. Given the potentially horrific consequences of a mismanaged birth and the financial burden of caring for a brain-injured child, the investment required in more midwifery services is surely one worth making.
By Robert Bell
Brain Injury Awareness Week
by Robert Bell, May 23rd, 2011
9 May – 15 May 2011 was Brain Injury Awareness Week. Every week thousands of people across the country present to Accident & Emergency departments with brain injuries. With the more severe brain injury the existence of the injury and its impact is obvious. However, the vast majority of brain injuries are assessed as “mild” and the signs can be subtle. Even a mild brain injury can have a major impact upon a person’s function and ability to lead a normal life. An awareness of the early signs of brain injury is therefore crucial to ensure that injured patients get the medical intervention and support they require at the earliest possible stage. Early signs of brain injury might include nausea, headaches, sleep disturbance, memory or attention deficit, sleep disturbance or changes in behaviour.
Mayo Wynne Baxter’s team of specialist brain injury solicitors are proud members of the newly formed Brain Injury Group, a nationwide network of brain injury specialists. The Brain Injury Group is designed to provide early access for brain injured patients to expert legal advice. It also recognises that the problems faced by these patients and their families extend far wider than the need for legal advice. It therefore offers to patients and their families immediate access to:
- an experienced brain injury case manager who will produce a report identifying the various needs of the client and their family with a view to getting the client on the road to rehabilitation at the earliest possible stage;
- expert independent financial advice. A brain injury can have very serious financial implications and the initial advice will include a review of entitlement to benefits, budgeting advice, advice on available insurance and advice in relation to immediate financial issues such as mortgage arrears and other financial commitments.
- advice in relation to mental capacity. Where a client lacks capacity to manage either his legal or financial affairs we can arrange for appointment or an appropriately qualified professional who will ensure that these matters are dealt with properly and in the interests of the injured person.
The immediate access to this wide ranging support will mean that the patient and their families can start to get their lives back on track before the conclusion of their legal claim. There is a wealth of evidence confirming that early provision of support of this kind can radically improve the outcome for such patients.
Mayo Wynne Baxter has extensive experience of dealing with cases of brain injury resulting from a wide range of causes, including clinical negligence, road traffic accidents, accidents at work, assault or other accidents. In the clinical negligence context, our team recently recovered £500,000 for a lady who suffered a stroke as a result of complications of brain surgery and an award worth in excess of £3.5million for a child who suffered damage to the frontal lobe of her brain at birth as a result of a negligent delay in her delivery.
By Robert Bell
Mayo Wynne Baxter joins new Brain Injury Group
by Jason Edge, April 7th, 2011
Mayo Wynne Baxter have been selected to join the new Brain Injury Group – a national network of expert brain injury lawyers working alongside a wide range of specialist support services. Together they provide brain injured individuals and their families with complete support – not just compensation – throughout their claim and beyond.
The Brain Injury Group comprises over 50 of the UK’s most experienced lawyers across the country who specialise in brain injury cases. The Brain Injury Group has been established to ensure that brain injury cases are given the precise, specialist legal attention that they deserve. Increasingly, brain injuries are dealt with as ‘just another’ personal injury claim and the specific and varied needs of brain injured clients and their families are not always met.
Compensation alone is not enough…
The Brain Injury Group understands that injured individuals and their families face many months of anxiety and uncertainty. Compensation alone isn’t enough. After the initial shock has subsided, the reality of a brain injury hits home hard. Day-to-day issues need to be dealt with while also caring for the injured individual. The Brain Injury Group helps affected families come to terms with their change in circumstances and can help to ease their financial and emotional burdens.
Who can use the Brain Injury Group?
People who have sustained a brain injury as the result of an accident or someone else’s negligence are eligible to receive help from the Brain Injury Group. This could be newly injured people or families seeking access to a local specialist law firm; people who have a lawyer but feel they may not be receiving the specialist expert care and attention they need or those whose cases have already been settled but who feel they may have been undercompensated.