Search results

This paper aims to consider the new role of Client Support Co‐ordinator (CSC), which is being developed by some law firms, and the assistance this can provide for brain injury survivors and their families and carers.

This article considers how the CSC can assist in the early acute stages following acquired brain injury. It is designed to take the reader through the benefits that a CSC can bring in supporting not only the brain injury survivor but also their families and carers. The literature is reviewed briefly, followed by reflections and suggestions which are based on this review and on practical experience.

This role is designed not to replace but to supplement existing social care providers and to bridge the gap in a legal case between receiving first instructions and the instruction of a private case manager. By adopting a more proactive, holistic case management type service at the acute stage the rehabilitation outcomes can be improved and families and carers better supported. Specialist brain and serious injury lawyers involved in dealing with brain injury litigation will often face a number of practical problems prior to being able to prove legal liability. Once primary liability is confirmed lawyers can proceed to obtain interim payments to pay for a private case manager who will then arrange the client's care and rehabilitation package.

This article shows that during the initial process, this guidance and support for brain injury survivors and their families and carers is vital and any additional support that can be provided should be sought at an early stage. This paper demonstrates the efficacy of employing a client support co‐ordinator in this period.

This paper aims to be a review of the clinical and legal issues surrounding the wearing of cycle helmets. It explains how helmets work, the standards currently in place and arguments for and against their protective value. It then considers how this clinical and actuarial data has been interpreted in case law and in particular the issue of contributory negligence.

A search of scientific databases and public search engines was used to review the relevant literature up to August 2012.

There is conflicting evidence for the protective value of cycle helmets. Some researchers have found helmets to protect against head and facial injuries. Others have criticised the research methods used and questioned whether helmets can protect the wearer from the most damaging types of head injury. No trial judge has yet found a case for contributory negligence on the part of a cyclist not wearing a helmet.

Research cannot use randomised control trials and is limited to other methodologies. Further work should focus on a range of aspects of safer cycling including cyclist and driver safety awareness along with comparing the safety factors of existing designs and developing better helmet design. Cyclists may wish to consider wearing a helmet to avoid claims for contributory negligence in the future.

This paper combines both the clinical and legal debate surrounding cycle helmet use. The paper will better inform clinicians, members of the legal profession, members of Government responsible for introducing legislation, helmet designers/manufacturers and individuals wishing to make an informed decision about helmet use.

The purpose of this paper is to describe level of education and return to school and employment among children and young adults who sustained a Traumatic brain injury (TBI) 15 years ago and to analyse the occurrence of any medical disability.

The study is descriptive. The authors used a questionnaire with questions covering education, employment, sick leave, insurance compensation and medical follow-up.

A total of 37 individuals, 17 (45.9 per cent) women and 20 (54.1 per cent) men, participated. Just over half (20 individuals, 54.1 per cent) were in employment, five (13.5 per cent) were unemployed and four (10.8 per cent) received disability pension. In total, 18 (48.6 per cent) individuals had received full compensation from their insurance companies, while 12 (35.3 per cent) had had their medical disability classified. A total of 12 (33.3 per cent) individuals were taking medication and five (13.9 per cent) had been followed by the health care system. The results indicate that people sustaining a TBI are less successful on the labour market than the general population, that relatively few had had their disability classified and that almost 50 per cent receive no insurance compensation.

There are few long-term follow-up studies on brain injuries acquired during childhood, and this study would add to the previous knowledge, as aspects of medical disability and legal compensation are included.

This paper seeks to provide an analysis of historic and current criminal injuries compensation schemes in Great Britain.

The paper aims to explain the nature of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) that administers the present scheme and to identify the qualifying criteria to establish eligibility for awards of compensation and obstacles to success. It deals with the nature and amounts of the awards available, the evidence gathering process, causes of delay and impediments to the achievement of fair outcomes. In the context of cases of serious injury, including acquired brain injury, it examines specific problems that are likely to be encountered and a perceived inadequacy of the compensation available to victims of such injury. The paper considers the involvement of the National Health Service in cases where applications for compensation are made and the possibility that medical professionals might inadvertently hinder the chances of a fair award. The position of local authorities and social services departments is also addressed, as is the danger that proper claims for injured victims might not be identified.

From the point of view of the victim of crime who is faced with making an application to CICA, the problems that they face lie with the process, the possibility of being refused on technical grounds, limits on compensation, gaps in the scheme – which might leave victims or their relatives going uncompensated or under‐compensated, and finally the lack of financial support with the cost of representation where it is needed. Of equal concern is the fact that the description of the circumstances of the assault and the injuries suffered can be crucial to ensure that full, proper, and relevant evidence gathering is undertaken. Without suitable skills, it is very easy for the lay applicant inadvertently to mislead, or to give the CICA the opportunity to reject or under‐compensate.

This paper provides a detailed analysis of CICA and reflects upon what the future might hold for injured victims of crime.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

This paper considers how compensation claims are calculated for people who have acquired brain injuries as a result of negligence or an accident. It distinguishes between criminal compensation and civil damage and clarifies the full recovery principle, ie. that the claimant should receive sufficient compensation to place them in the same position as if the incident had not occurred. The heads of damages are then explored in detail, before considering how those who lack capacity are protected. It concludes that gaining full compensation for someone is not simply a matter for solicitors, but requires the support of the multidisciplinary team, the client and their family.

This paper explores the practice experience and dilemmas of being a social worker in a case management role. It draws on a case study taken from actual practice to highlight how social workers' training places them in an ideal position to smoothly manage the transitions that individuals and their families face. Permission of those involved has been sought and given, although names have been changed to protect confidentiality.The paper highlights how the fact that brain injury can be a ‘hidden disability’ can mean that its effects on both survivor and carers may be understated, with a consequent inadequate allocation of service provision and support.Support for those with brain injuries often comes from more than one statutory organisation and the challenges of managing and co‐ordinating this across organisational boundaries are discussed.

June 28, 1972 Limitation of action — Asbestosis — Workman contracting insidious disease over number of years through employers' breach of statutory duty — Action commenced more than one year after giving up work — Lack of knowledge that disease attributable to breach of duty — Whether workman entitled to bring action outside period — Limitation Act 1963 (c.47) ss. 1(3), 7(3).

To examine the ways in which sports-related brain injury (concussion and subconcussion) is both similar to and different from other injuries and to set out a sociological understanding of the injury, its manifestation and management.

There is a broad contextualization of the ‘issue’ of concussion and the processes that have brought this to the fore, an examination of the ways in which concussion has been figuratively clouded from plain view, and an outline of the main contributions of the social sciences to understanding this injury – the culture of risk and the mediating effect of social relationships. The chapter concludes by questioning whether the emergence of concerns over chronic traumatic encephalopathy has stimulated a fundamental change in attitudes towards sport injuries, and if this has had a significant impact on the social visibility of concussion.

The two available sociological studies of the lived experiences of concussion are situated within a broader analysis of the politicization of sports medicine and the emergence of a particular social discourse around sports-related brain injury.

The difficulties emanating from the dominance of a biomedical approach to concussion are discussed along with the need for further research, incorporating a more holistic view of concussion, as a bio-psycho-social phenomenon.

This paper explores the information available for carers of children with a brain injury. It is based on research for an MPhil degree and involved a questionnaire survey of 120 people followed up by structured interviews with 102 of these.The paper looks in‐depth at existing literature and essentially finds that, although a little progress has been made, much remains to be done in terms of both the availability of the information and its intelligibility. Eight key areas are identified by the carers and only one of these (education) is found to be satisfactory by the participants. A further conclusion is reached that local support groups are the best method of providing appropriate and relevant information that is delivered in an empathetic and, therefore, very acceptable form.