An inquest will begin today into the deaths of five men who were killed when the private jet they were travelling in crashed into a house.
Pilots Mike Roberts, 63, and Michael Chapman, 57, and passengers, Scots motor racing driver David Leslie, 54, racing team owner Richard Lloyd, 63, and graduate Christopher Allarton, 25, died when the Cessna Citation 500 plane plunged into a suburban cul-de-sac on March 30, 2008.
The aircraft hit a house in Romsey Close, Farnborough, Kent, causing a major fire which destroyed the property.
The house owner Edwin Harman was away on holiday while his wife, Pat, had returned from the break before her husband and was heading home at the time of the tragedy.
The garage of a neighbouring house and a car parked next to it were also destroyed by the impact and ensuing fire. But no-one on the ground was injured.
A report last year by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the aircraft departed from Biggin Hill airport in Kent bound for Pau in south-west France.
One minute into the flight, Mr Roberts transmitted a message saying they were making an immediate return to Biggin Hill.
The report said that it was probable that a mechanical failure within the air cycle machine - part of the mechanism which helps with cabin ventilation - caused engine vibration which led the crew to try to make the return.
The AAIB said a rivet head securing the left engine fuel cut-off lever had become detached at some time prior to the crash.
This missing rivet head "may have led to an inadvertent shutdown of that (left-side) engine", the AAIB said.
The report said that an attempt to relight the second engine "was probably started before the relit first engine had reached idle speed, resulting in insufficient time for enough thrust to be developed to arrest the aircraft's rate of descent before ground impact".
The aircraft did not have, nor was required to have, "black box" flight recorders, meaning that information critical to identifying the cause of the accident was not available to investigators.
Renowned former British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) driver Mr Leslie was a father-of-two who was Scottish karting champion five times before winning the Formula Ford title in 1978.
He had spells in Formula Three, Sportscars and Thunder Saloons before spending over a decade in the British Touring Car Championship.
He won nine BTCC races, finishing second overall in 1999, and continued to race until his death, winning a BritCar race at Silverstone as recently as March 22.
Apex Motorsport boss Mr Lloyd, also a former BTCC runner-up, had three daughters and a wife. Mr Roberts was from Effingham in Surrey and Mr Chapman was from Shoreham in West Sussex.
Mr Allarton, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, had graduated from Coventry University with a 2.1 in motorsport engineering and was part way through a Master's degree when he was offered a post at Apex.
The inquest, which is expected to last a few days, will start at Bromley Civic Centre from 10am.
source: thisislondon.co.uk
Passenger Claims
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Washing clothes led to Carlisle woman's death
A housewife died from industrial disease after coming into contact with deadly asbestos while washing her husband’s work overalls.
The family of Helene Todd, who lived in Durranhill in Carlisle, are now suing the Ministry of Defence after an inquest formally confirmed asbestos to be the cause of her death.
Mrs Todd, who was 66 when she died at the Eden Valley Hospice on August 21 last year, had already begun legal proceedings after being diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer and told it would be terminal.
Now her husband, former serviceman John Todd, 67, has vowed to continue her fight for justice, supported by their children and grandchildren.
Mr Todd, who is being represented by specialist law firm Irwin Mitchell, told the News & Star that he was in regular contact with asbestos while serving with the British Army in Germany during the late sixties and seventies.
And he strongly believes it was this asbestos – brought home on his work clothes for washing – all those years ago that caused Helene to contract metastatic mesothelioma.
“I was a tank mechanic and was working with it all the time,” he said. “It was in the brakes and clutches, engine covers and sheeting round the engines. Back then we had no idea it was dangerous.
“To be honest I’m surprised I haven’t got it. Helene must just have been unlucky.
“Most days I’d get back and have to leave my overalls at the door, then she’d shake them to make sure there was nothing in the pockets and put them in the wash. I remember her saying the dust would irritate her nose, making her sneeze.”
After leaving Germany and serving for a few years with the Territorial Army in Glasgow, Mr Todd left the army after about 22 years service.
Despite originating in the south east of England, fate brought them to Carlisle when they spotted an advert for houses and instantly knew it was were they should settle.
They lived in the city happily for many years and it wasn’t until 2009 that Helene started to have problems with her health.
“She just didn’t feel right so she went to the doctor and they kept doing more and more blood tests. They knew something was wrong,” said Mr Todd, who has also worked as a driver, courier and had his own ice cream van.
She was referred to the hospital and further tests eventually revealed it was bad news. She was told the cancer in her lungs was terminal, and she would have an estimated two to five years to live.
Mr Todd found himself looking after his wife with help from Macmillan nurses.
However, she started to go downhill last June and died in August.
Mr Todd said he misses her every single day. “Helene was magic,” he said.
“She was my life, we did everything together. We were married for 44 years, but it should have been 60.”
At an inquest in Carlisle a few weeks ago, north Cumbria coroner David Roberts ruled that Helene died as a result of industrial disease.
Supported by his three adult children and four grandchildren, Mr Todd said he is determined to get justice in memory of his wife.
He said: “The whole family was absolutely devastated when Helene received her diagnosis. It is heartbreaking to think that an everyday task such as washing clothes is what risked her health.
“It angers me to think that my former employers, the MOD, not only put my life at risk but also my family.”
Mr Todd’s solicitor Roger Maddocks added: “Although cases like Mrs Todd’s are still uncommon, we do see a number of cases where the victims themselves have not been exposed to asbestos dust through their own work.
“They may not have been heavily exposed to asbestos dust, or even been exposed on an everyday basis, but even small levels of exposure can lead many years later to development of mesothelioma with devastating consequences.”
source: newsandstar.co.uk
Asbestos Claims
The family of Helene Todd, who lived in Durranhill in Carlisle, are now suing the Ministry of Defence after an inquest formally confirmed asbestos to be the cause of her death.
Mrs Todd, who was 66 when she died at the Eden Valley Hospice on August 21 last year, had already begun legal proceedings after being diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer and told it would be terminal.
Now her husband, former serviceman John Todd, 67, has vowed to continue her fight for justice, supported by their children and grandchildren.
Mr Todd, who is being represented by specialist law firm Irwin Mitchell, told the News & Star that he was in regular contact with asbestos while serving with the British Army in Germany during the late sixties and seventies.
And he strongly believes it was this asbestos – brought home on his work clothes for washing – all those years ago that caused Helene to contract metastatic mesothelioma.
“I was a tank mechanic and was working with it all the time,” he said. “It was in the brakes and clutches, engine covers and sheeting round the engines. Back then we had no idea it was dangerous.
“To be honest I’m surprised I haven’t got it. Helene must just have been unlucky.
“Most days I’d get back and have to leave my overalls at the door, then she’d shake them to make sure there was nothing in the pockets and put them in the wash. I remember her saying the dust would irritate her nose, making her sneeze.”
After leaving Germany and serving for a few years with the Territorial Army in Glasgow, Mr Todd left the army after about 22 years service.
Despite originating in the south east of England, fate brought them to Carlisle when they spotted an advert for houses and instantly knew it was were they should settle.
They lived in the city happily for many years and it wasn’t until 2009 that Helene started to have problems with her health.
“She just didn’t feel right so she went to the doctor and they kept doing more and more blood tests. They knew something was wrong,” said Mr Todd, who has also worked as a driver, courier and had his own ice cream van.
She was referred to the hospital and further tests eventually revealed it was bad news. She was told the cancer in her lungs was terminal, and she would have an estimated two to five years to live.
Mr Todd found himself looking after his wife with help from Macmillan nurses.
However, she started to go downhill last June and died in August.
Mr Todd said he misses her every single day. “Helene was magic,” he said.
“She was my life, we did everything together. We were married for 44 years, but it should have been 60.”
At an inquest in Carlisle a few weeks ago, north Cumbria coroner David Roberts ruled that Helene died as a result of industrial disease.
Supported by his three adult children and four grandchildren, Mr Todd said he is determined to get justice in memory of his wife.
He said: “The whole family was absolutely devastated when Helene received her diagnosis. It is heartbreaking to think that an everyday task such as washing clothes is what risked her health.
“It angers me to think that my former employers, the MOD, not only put my life at risk but also my family.”
Mr Todd’s solicitor Roger Maddocks added: “Although cases like Mrs Todd’s are still uncommon, we do see a number of cases where the victims themselves have not been exposed to asbestos dust through their own work.
“They may not have been heavily exposed to asbestos dust, or even been exposed on an everyday basis, but even small levels of exposure can lead many years later to development of mesothelioma with devastating consequences.”
source: newsandstar.co.uk
Asbestos Claims
Assurances over asbestos at Stockton school
EDUCATION chiefs have confirmed that a deteriorating school building still in use by pupils does contain asbestos.
But Stockton Council has said the substance is “contained” in the three-storey block at Ian Ramsey Church of England School.
And the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) added teachers and pupils were not likely to be at risk as long as it was managed safely.
Education bosses have assured parents it is safe for pupils to continue being taught in the building until the autumn, when repair work is due to start.
And the council has said the asbestos will be “managed safely” while the repair work is carried out.
As previously reported in the Evening Gazette, bosses at Ian Ramsey decided to move pupils out of its south block and into temporary classrooms because of problems with the building’s structure.
The decision came after structural engineers were called in after evidence of movement was found in certain parts of the building.
“Temporary repairs were carried out as a precautionary measure on the understanding that more substantial repairs or replacement would be undertaken in due course,” said a council spokesperson.
The HSE said asbestos that is “in good condition and not likely to be damaged or disturbed” can remain in place until the building “reaches the end of its design life”.
A spokesman said: “Asbestos in poor condition, or which is likely to be damaged or disturbed, should be repaired, sealed, enclosed or removed. Providing that asbestos is managed safely, teachers and pupils are not likely to be at risk in the course of normal activities.”
Plans to move the pupils into the temporary classrooms in the autumn have now been revealed.
A tendering process for the repair work is now under way, so the cost of the process - and of temporary classrooms - has yet to be determined.
But it will be shared between the council and the Church of England diocese of Durham.
source: gazettelive.co.uk
Asbestos Claims
But Stockton Council has said the substance is “contained” in the three-storey block at Ian Ramsey Church of England School.
And the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) added teachers and pupils were not likely to be at risk as long as it was managed safely.
Education bosses have assured parents it is safe for pupils to continue being taught in the building until the autumn, when repair work is due to start.
And the council has said the asbestos will be “managed safely” while the repair work is carried out.
As previously reported in the Evening Gazette, bosses at Ian Ramsey decided to move pupils out of its south block and into temporary classrooms because of problems with the building’s structure.
The decision came after structural engineers were called in after evidence of movement was found in certain parts of the building.
“Temporary repairs were carried out as a precautionary measure on the understanding that more substantial repairs or replacement would be undertaken in due course,” said a council spokesperson.
The HSE said asbestos that is “in good condition and not likely to be damaged or disturbed” can remain in place until the building “reaches the end of its design life”.
A spokesman said: “Asbestos in poor condition, or which is likely to be damaged or disturbed, should be repaired, sealed, enclosed or removed. Providing that asbestos is managed safely, teachers and pupils are not likely to be at risk in the course of normal activities.”
Plans to move the pupils into the temporary classrooms in the autumn have now been revealed.
A tendering process for the repair work is now under way, so the cost of the process - and of temporary classrooms - has yet to be determined.
But it will be shared between the council and the Church of England diocese of Durham.
source: gazettelive.co.uk
Asbestos Claims
Rubislaw Quarry in Aberdeen could become diving centre
The owners of one of Europe's largest man-made holes are considering opening it as Scotland's first commercial deep-water inland diving centre.
The Rubislaw Quarry, which has been credited with giving Aberdeen its Granite City name, was sold to Sandy Whyte and Hugh Black last summer.
The quarry was closed 40 years ago and is now 140m deep with water.
A team of divers recently surveyed the quarry and have said they believe it would make an ideal diving centre site.
The group dived 105m and found some rusting quarry equipment.
The owners have said they would consider the diving venture proposal.
After buying the five-acre quarry Mr Whyte and Mr Black said they wanted to explore ways of sharing with the public the beauty of the landmark.
source: bbc.co.uk
Diving Claims
The Rubislaw Quarry, which has been credited with giving Aberdeen its Granite City name, was sold to Sandy Whyte and Hugh Black last summer.
The quarry was closed 40 years ago and is now 140m deep with water.
A team of divers recently surveyed the quarry and have said they believe it would make an ideal diving centre site.
The group dived 105m and found some rusting quarry equipment.
The owners have said they would consider the diving venture proposal.
After buying the five-acre quarry Mr Whyte and Mr Black said they wanted to explore ways of sharing with the public the beauty of the landmark.
source: bbc.co.uk
Diving Claims
Nottingham centre sees breast cancer success
Record numbers of cancers are being detected at a Nottingham NHS breast screening centre.
Figures from the city's Breast Institute, which screens 30,000 women a year, also show that survival rates are improving.
Advances in screening mean cancers less than 1.5cms in diameter, too small to detect manually, account for more than a third of the 1,800 picked up.
The centre said it expected two thirds of women to survive the disease.
Missed appointments
Doctors said despite a 50% increase in incidents of breast cancer over the past 30 years, the outlook for patients had improved.
Douglas Macmillan, a consultant the City Hospital, said: "We expect two thirds of women to survive breast cancer and about 80% of women to still be alive 10 years after treatment.
"This is enormously better than it was 30 years ago, where the level was more like 50%.
"This is down to earlier screening, greater awareness, better treatments and better targeted treatments suited to the individual."
But he admitted more work had to be done in dealing with the one in five women in the East Midlands who did not take up the offer of screening.
source: bbc.co.uk
Nottinghamshire Claims
Cancer Claims
Figures from the city's Breast Institute, which screens 30,000 women a year, also show that survival rates are improving.
Advances in screening mean cancers less than 1.5cms in diameter, too small to detect manually, account for more than a third of the 1,800 picked up.
The centre said it expected two thirds of women to survive the disease.
Missed appointments
Doctors said despite a 50% increase in incidents of breast cancer over the past 30 years, the outlook for patients had improved.
Douglas Macmillan, a consultant the City Hospital, said: "We expect two thirds of women to survive breast cancer and about 80% of women to still be alive 10 years after treatment.
"This is enormously better than it was 30 years ago, where the level was more like 50%.
"This is down to earlier screening, greater awareness, better treatments and better targeted treatments suited to the individual."
But he admitted more work had to be done in dealing with the one in five women in the East Midlands who did not take up the offer of screening.
source: bbc.co.uk
Nottinghamshire Claims
Cancer Claims
Friday 27 May 2011
The Law Council of England & Wales?
The two main bodies of the legal profession have moved ever closer over recent years with solicitors being appointed QCs, court dress rules governing the two professions and most recently with the announcement from the Bar Council permitting barristers to undertake litigation work.
Solicitors have been employing in-house barristers for many years and many have taken the conversion to permit partnership in law firms.
This does raise the question how far away are we from the two representative bodies (The Law Society and The Bar Council) merging under one overarching representative body 'The Law Council of England and Wales'.
Business Development & Marketing Services for Law Firms
Solicitors have been employing in-house barristers for many years and many have taken the conversion to permit partnership in law firms.
This does raise the question how far away are we from the two representative bodies (The Law Society and The Bar Council) merging under one overarching representative body 'The Law Council of England and Wales'.
Business Development & Marketing Services for Law Firms
LSB publishes final referral fees decision
The Legal Services Board has dropped plans to force law firms to publish their referral fee arrangements on their websites, in its final decision on the regulation of referral fees published today.
The LSB said it would no longer seek to prescribe the precise measures that law firms and others must take to achieve greater transparency over referral arrangements.
Instead, it has set out what frontline regulators such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority must achieve by 2013, but it will give the regulators freedom to decide themselves what measures they want to impose on firms to reach this position.
It will still be open to the SRA to oblige firms to publish referral arrangements if it chooses to do so.
The LSB said that by 2013, frontline regulators will need to have ensured ‘that consumers know when referral fees are in operation and to whom they are being paid’.
They will also need to have ‘improved regulatory policing of lawyers’ obligations’.
The LSB’s final decision follows a consultation published in December last year.
After a lengthy investigation by the LSB’s Legal Services Consumer Panel, the board concluded that there was not enough evidence for an outright ban on referral fees, but there was a need for greater transparency over the arrangements in place.
The December consultation proposed specific measures to be imposed on firms to make referral arrangements more open, such as obliging them to publish details of referral fees on their website.
An LSB spokesman said the board had listened to feedback that, as an overarching regulator, it should not lay down these specific measures, but should give frontline regulators greater freedom in how to achieve the outcomes set out by the LSB.
LSB chair David Edmonds said: ‘Before this exercise, the debate on referral fees was characterised by high passions but a lack of hard evidence.
'Following this detailed investigation, we are persuaded that the interests of consumers are best served bycontinuing to permit referral fees, but managing their impact through shining the light of transparency on them.
‘We have set out a range of measures that can help achieve this – with the approved regulators free to choose what is best suited to their part of the market.
'Whilst they will have the flexibility to tailor action, securing these outcomes is essential and we will track progress carefully over the coming months.’
Dianne Hayter, chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel, said: ‘I am pleased that the LSB is insisting on greater transparency, tighter enforcement and more joined-up regulation of referral fees - these were the panel's key recommendations for cleaning up the market when we examined this issue last year.
‘Lawyers and their introducers should be clear that maintaining the status quo is not good enough.
'Our research showed the public is prepared to tolerate referral fees, but only if they take place in the open.
‘Therefore, the panel's support for referral fees remains conditional on achieving a more transparent market that works in the consumer interest.’
source: lawgazette.co.uk
Go Compensate without referral fees!
The LSB said it would no longer seek to prescribe the precise measures that law firms and others must take to achieve greater transparency over referral arrangements.
Instead, it has set out what frontline regulators such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority must achieve by 2013, but it will give the regulators freedom to decide themselves what measures they want to impose on firms to reach this position.
It will still be open to the SRA to oblige firms to publish referral arrangements if it chooses to do so.
The LSB said that by 2013, frontline regulators will need to have ensured ‘that consumers know when referral fees are in operation and to whom they are being paid’.
They will also need to have ‘improved regulatory policing of lawyers’ obligations’.
The LSB’s final decision follows a consultation published in December last year.
After a lengthy investigation by the LSB’s Legal Services Consumer Panel, the board concluded that there was not enough evidence for an outright ban on referral fees, but there was a need for greater transparency over the arrangements in place.
The December consultation proposed specific measures to be imposed on firms to make referral arrangements more open, such as obliging them to publish details of referral fees on their website.
An LSB spokesman said the board had listened to feedback that, as an overarching regulator, it should not lay down these specific measures, but should give frontline regulators greater freedom in how to achieve the outcomes set out by the LSB.
LSB chair David Edmonds said: ‘Before this exercise, the debate on referral fees was characterised by high passions but a lack of hard evidence.
'Following this detailed investigation, we are persuaded that the interests of consumers are best served bycontinuing to permit referral fees, but managing their impact through shining the light of transparency on them.
‘We have set out a range of measures that can help achieve this – with the approved regulators free to choose what is best suited to their part of the market.
'Whilst they will have the flexibility to tailor action, securing these outcomes is essential and we will track progress carefully over the coming months.’
Dianne Hayter, chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel, said: ‘I am pleased that the LSB is insisting on greater transparency, tighter enforcement and more joined-up regulation of referral fees - these were the panel's key recommendations for cleaning up the market when we examined this issue last year.
‘Lawyers and their introducers should be clear that maintaining the status quo is not good enough.
'Our research showed the public is prepared to tolerate referral fees, but only if they take place in the open.
‘Therefore, the panel's support for referral fees remains conditional on achieving a more transparent market that works in the consumer interest.’
source: lawgazette.co.uk
Go Compensate without referral fees!
Thursday 26 May 2011
'Self-taught' engineer fined £100,000 over basement death
An Oxford-educated engineer was fined £100,000 after a builder was crushed to death in the basement of a Knightsbridge home.
Nadeem Aftab, 47, was managing the excavation at the Wilton Row property. His employee Arlindo Visentin, 58, a Brazilian father of nine, suffered fatal injuries when the works collapsed on top of him on June 13, 2007.
It later emerged that Aftab was not a qualified civil engineer but was "self-taught" on the basis of seven previous basement excavations.
He had also failed to respond to advice from structural engineers before the accident and afterwards tried to shift blame on to building regulators.
Aftab was sentenced at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Judge Paul Worsley QC said: "It is the fault of Mr Aftab and that will be on his conscience."
The court heard Aftab is a former councillor for Hammersmith and Fulham who graduated in aeronautical engineering at Manchester University and earned a research degree at Oxford in software engineering. He has also taught engineering at University College London, according to his barrister Alan Steynor.
Mr Steynor added: "It is accepted he is not qualified as a civil engineer ... he is self-taught."
Aftab was appointed as principal contractor in the project in Wilton Row by designer Sinclair Johnston and Partners.
On the day of the accident his employees were due to remove soil that had been excavated when a crack formed where Mr Visentin was standing.
Judge Worsley said: "Warning was shouted but they were too late to avoid the collapse of the excavation which buried Mr Visentin which led to severe crush injuries."
No ambulance was called to the scene and Mr Visentin was instead taken to hospital in Aftab's car. Mr Visentin died later that evening.
The judge added: "Following the accident the defendant did some things which had the effect of diverting responsibility for the management of the project to many people."
Aftab was also ordered to pay £61,000 costs towards the prosecution.
source: thisislondon.co.uk
London Claims
Nadeem Aftab, 47, was managing the excavation at the Wilton Row property. His employee Arlindo Visentin, 58, a Brazilian father of nine, suffered fatal injuries when the works collapsed on top of him on June 13, 2007.
It later emerged that Aftab was not a qualified civil engineer but was "self-taught" on the basis of seven previous basement excavations.
He had also failed to respond to advice from structural engineers before the accident and afterwards tried to shift blame on to building regulators.
Aftab was sentenced at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Judge Paul Worsley QC said: "It is the fault of Mr Aftab and that will be on his conscience."
The court heard Aftab is a former councillor for Hammersmith and Fulham who graduated in aeronautical engineering at Manchester University and earned a research degree at Oxford in software engineering. He has also taught engineering at University College London, according to his barrister Alan Steynor.
Mr Steynor added: "It is accepted he is not qualified as a civil engineer ... he is self-taught."
Aftab was appointed as principal contractor in the project in Wilton Row by designer Sinclair Johnston and Partners.
On the day of the accident his employees were due to remove soil that had been excavated when a crack formed where Mr Visentin was standing.
Judge Worsley said: "Warning was shouted but they were too late to avoid the collapse of the excavation which buried Mr Visentin which led to severe crush injuries."
No ambulance was called to the scene and Mr Visentin was instead taken to hospital in Aftab's car. Mr Visentin died later that evening.
The judge added: "Following the accident the defendant did some things which had the effect of diverting responsibility for the management of the project to many people."
Aftab was also ordered to pay £61,000 costs towards the prosecution.
source: thisislondon.co.uk
London Claims
Doctors give Beau, 7, a 'second chance' at life
A SEVEN-year-old boy has become the first person in the country to undergo pioneering microsurgery which could enable children with cerebral palsy to walk.
Beau Britton's mum Tracy said the operation has given her son a "second chance" at a normal life.
She hopes it will one day mean he will walk without a wheelchair or walking frame.
Born prematurely weighing only 2lb 12oz, Beau suffered brain damage which has severely affected movement in his legs.
His life has changed dramatically since the neurosurgical procedure on his spine at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, three weeks ago.
If they had not received the operation on the NHS, Tracy said the family faced having to raise £40,000 to take Beau to America.
The method, called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), involves dividing some of the nerves as they enter the spinal cord to free up constricting muscles.
Tracy, of Kelly Bray, near Callington, said: "We feel we have been so lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
"Kristian Aquilina, the neurosurgeon, has given Beau a second chance, a chance of a more normal life – which is priceless.
"We would love Beau to do some of the things other children take for granted – to wear wellies and splash in the puddles and to go to the beach and wear flip flops.
"It would be wonderful to take him skiing and we would love him to be able to experience the freedom of independent movement and if ever possible, to dance."
Cerebral palsy, often caused by premature birth, affects brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking.
Since having the SDR operation, Beau has undergone a two-week period of intensive physiotherapy at Frenchay.
He will have to take part in a long-term programme of daily physiotherapy for at least two years.
The family returned home from Bristol this week.
Tracy said: "We know this is a long-term thing and we are fully prepared for that.
"My ultimate aim is for Beau to walk without his wheelchair or walking frame but that is a long time off and it is difficult to think that far ahead at the moment.
"What has amazed me are some of the instant effects."
She said he is not waking up with cramps at night due to spasticity anymore, something which caused major sleep deprivation for the family over the last seven years.
"Also his cerebral palsy meant that his legs were crossed and his feet were planted on top of each other," said Tracy. "They are now straight and getting him dressed is so much easier because his overall balance has improved so much.
"He was sitting on the sofa the other day and started dangling his legs over the edge – this may sound like a really small thing but he has never been able to do this before. He can also wriggle his toes."
Beau has already undergone extensive orthopaedic surgery on both legs and hips and without SDR this would be ongoing his whole life.
Tracy paid special thanks to staff at Frenchay and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly PCT.
Beau's story will be featured as part of a BBC Inside Out West documentary at 7.30pm on Monday, June 20.
source: thisisplymouth.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
Beau Britton's mum Tracy said the operation has given her son a "second chance" at a normal life.
She hopes it will one day mean he will walk without a wheelchair or walking frame.
Born prematurely weighing only 2lb 12oz, Beau suffered brain damage which has severely affected movement in his legs.
His life has changed dramatically since the neurosurgical procedure on his spine at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, three weeks ago.
If they had not received the operation on the NHS, Tracy said the family faced having to raise £40,000 to take Beau to America.
The method, called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), involves dividing some of the nerves as they enter the spinal cord to free up constricting muscles.
Tracy, of Kelly Bray, near Callington, said: "We feel we have been so lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
"Kristian Aquilina, the neurosurgeon, has given Beau a second chance, a chance of a more normal life – which is priceless.
"We would love Beau to do some of the things other children take for granted – to wear wellies and splash in the puddles and to go to the beach and wear flip flops.
"It would be wonderful to take him skiing and we would love him to be able to experience the freedom of independent movement and if ever possible, to dance."
Cerebral palsy, often caused by premature birth, affects brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking.
Since having the SDR operation, Beau has undergone a two-week period of intensive physiotherapy at Frenchay.
He will have to take part in a long-term programme of daily physiotherapy for at least two years.
The family returned home from Bristol this week.
Tracy said: "We know this is a long-term thing and we are fully prepared for that.
"My ultimate aim is for Beau to walk without his wheelchair or walking frame but that is a long time off and it is difficult to think that far ahead at the moment.
"What has amazed me are some of the instant effects."
She said he is not waking up with cramps at night due to spasticity anymore, something which caused major sleep deprivation for the family over the last seven years.
"Also his cerebral palsy meant that his legs were crossed and his feet were planted on top of each other," said Tracy. "They are now straight and getting him dressed is so much easier because his overall balance has improved so much.
"He was sitting on the sofa the other day and started dangling his legs over the edge – this may sound like a really small thing but he has never been able to do this before. He can also wriggle his toes."
Beau has already undergone extensive orthopaedic surgery on both legs and hips and without SDR this would be ongoing his whole life.
Tracy paid special thanks to staff at Frenchay and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly PCT.
Beau's story will be featured as part of a BBC Inside Out West documentary at 7.30pm on Monday, June 20.
source: thisisplymouth.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
Swindon man in hospital after dramatic crash
A YOUNG man has been treated in hospital following a crash which caused ‘heavy chaos’ on Wiltshire’s roads.
The dramatic incident saw a white van hurled from the road, over a grass embankment and into a field, where it was spotted lying on its side.
The ambulance service received the call just before 8am, saying there had been a collision on the road.
Both police and ambulance services headed to the scene, where the driver of the Citroen Berlingo van, a man in his twenties, was assessed by paramedics.
He was taken to the Great Western Hospital, but his injuries are not believed to be serious. Another patient was treated on the scene and given the all-clear.
The accident caused a huge tailback on the busy A346 near Chiseldon.
Police described the situation as chaos as the northbound lane towards Swindon was blocked while emergency services waited for the vehicles to be removed.
But they reported the road was clear by 10.34am. The circumstances of the crash remain unclear.
But as well as a white Citroen Berlingo van, police said that a silver Ford Fiesta and blue Mercedes Sprinter were involved in the accident.
source: swindonadvertiser.co.uk
Road Traffic Accident Claims
The dramatic incident saw a white van hurled from the road, over a grass embankment and into a field, where it was spotted lying on its side.
The ambulance service received the call just before 8am, saying there had been a collision on the road.
Both police and ambulance services headed to the scene, where the driver of the Citroen Berlingo van, a man in his twenties, was assessed by paramedics.
He was taken to the Great Western Hospital, but his injuries are not believed to be serious. Another patient was treated on the scene and given the all-clear.
The accident caused a huge tailback on the busy A346 near Chiseldon.
Police described the situation as chaos as the northbound lane towards Swindon was blocked while emergency services waited for the vehicles to be removed.
But they reported the road was clear by 10.34am. The circumstances of the crash remain unclear.
But as well as a white Citroen Berlingo van, police said that a silver Ford Fiesta and blue Mercedes Sprinter were involved in the accident.
source: swindonadvertiser.co.uk
Road Traffic Accident Claims
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Man Questioned over hit and run in Enfield
A man has been questioned over a fatal hit-and-run accident in north London.
Warren Perry, 44, suffered multiple injuries when he was hit by a car on the railway bridge in Carterhatch Lane, Enfield, on Saturday night.
The driver did not stop and a silver BMW, thought to have been involved in the crash, was found in Enfield by police officers on Monday.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in the area. He has since been released on bail while investigations continue.
source: bbc.co.uk
London Claims
Warren Perry, 44, suffered multiple injuries when he was hit by a car on the railway bridge in Carterhatch Lane, Enfield, on Saturday night.
The driver did not stop and a silver BMW, thought to have been involved in the crash, was found in Enfield by police officers on Monday.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in the area. He has since been released on bail while investigations continue.
source: bbc.co.uk
London Claims
Tributes to Hull University worker who died after crash on A164 at Beverley
Tributes have been paid to a bubbly and determined woman who died after her car was hit by a lorry as she waited at a set of traffic lights.
Julie Watson suffered fatal injuries after the crash on the A164 at the junction with the A1079, known as Jock's Lodge, in Beverley during Monday's evening rush hour.
Mrs Watson was director of membership services and human resources at the University of Hull's Students' Union.
A lorry struck her Volkswagen Beetle, which pushed her car into a Vauxhall Astra in front.
Mrs Watson, 41, who lived with her husband John in North Ferriby, died at Hull Royal Infirmary yesterday afternoon.
Following the news, the University of Hull issued a tribute.
It read: "So many will miss her. She was never a colleague, always a friend. She was a welcoming heartfelt person who gained admiration from all who knew her.
"Her contribution to university life has been immeasurable over the past nine years.
"Julie has helped students and staff of the university and the students' union reach their ambitions with her bubbly, determined character that has left a legacy of improvement not just in Hull, but across the country as she selflessly gave her time to help other students' unions.
"Her commitment to students was unwavering and her optimism helped numerous friends and young people through difficult times. She will be sorely missed."
Well-wishers have also left tributes on the Mail's website.
One of Mrs Watson's colleagues wrote: "The news is just filtering around that she passed away just after lunchtime.
"Although I did not know her personally, I had met her and she was such as lovely, bubbly individual.
"We are all in shock at such a terrible waste of life."
The crash happened at 5.20pm and the road was not reopened until 1.45am.
The driver of the Astra, a 32-year-old man from North Lincolnshire, suffered whiplash and the lorry driver, a 56-year-old man from North Yorkshire was unhurt.
The lorry driver was arrested at the scene and has been interviewed and released on police bail, pending further investigations.
Inspector Mark Hughes, from Humberside Police's roads policing team, said: "We desperately need to trace witnesses to this collision which happened at rush hour on a very busy stretch of road.
"I know there were many motorists in the area at the time and I need those people who witnessed the incident to contact me.
"The woman's car suffered rear and front end damage and was sandwiched between the car and lorry."
Shortly after the crash, a car making a U-turn on the A1079, north of Jock's Lodge, to avoid the congestion on the A164, collided with a motorcyclist.
According to police, the biker is suffering from multiple serious injuries which are not life threatening.
The driver of the car suffered minor injuries.
Inspector Hughes said: "The second accident was due to the congestion caused by the first accident.
"Several cars were trying U-turns on the carriageway. This one turned and collided with a motor bike."
Anyone who witnessed either crash is asked to call Humberside Police on 0845 6060222.
source: thisishullandeastriding.co.uk
Yorkshire Claims
Julie Watson suffered fatal injuries after the crash on the A164 at the junction with the A1079, known as Jock's Lodge, in Beverley during Monday's evening rush hour.
Mrs Watson was director of membership services and human resources at the University of Hull's Students' Union.
A lorry struck her Volkswagen Beetle, which pushed her car into a Vauxhall Astra in front.
Mrs Watson, 41, who lived with her husband John in North Ferriby, died at Hull Royal Infirmary yesterday afternoon.
Following the news, the University of Hull issued a tribute.
It read: "So many will miss her. She was never a colleague, always a friend. She was a welcoming heartfelt person who gained admiration from all who knew her.
"Her contribution to university life has been immeasurable over the past nine years.
"Julie has helped students and staff of the university and the students' union reach their ambitions with her bubbly, determined character that has left a legacy of improvement not just in Hull, but across the country as she selflessly gave her time to help other students' unions.
"Her commitment to students was unwavering and her optimism helped numerous friends and young people through difficult times. She will be sorely missed."
Well-wishers have also left tributes on the Mail's website.
One of Mrs Watson's colleagues wrote: "The news is just filtering around that she passed away just after lunchtime.
"Although I did not know her personally, I had met her and she was such as lovely, bubbly individual.
"We are all in shock at such a terrible waste of life."
The crash happened at 5.20pm and the road was not reopened until 1.45am.
The driver of the Astra, a 32-year-old man from North Lincolnshire, suffered whiplash and the lorry driver, a 56-year-old man from North Yorkshire was unhurt.
The lorry driver was arrested at the scene and has been interviewed and released on police bail, pending further investigations.
Inspector Mark Hughes, from Humberside Police's roads policing team, said: "We desperately need to trace witnesses to this collision which happened at rush hour on a very busy stretch of road.
"I know there were many motorists in the area at the time and I need those people who witnessed the incident to contact me.
"The woman's car suffered rear and front end damage and was sandwiched between the car and lorry."
Shortly after the crash, a car making a U-turn on the A1079, north of Jock's Lodge, to avoid the congestion on the A164, collided with a motorcyclist.
According to police, the biker is suffering from multiple serious injuries which are not life threatening.
The driver of the car suffered minor injuries.
Inspector Hughes said: "The second accident was due to the congestion caused by the first accident.
"Several cars were trying U-turns on the carriageway. This one turned and collided with a motor bike."
Anyone who witnessed either crash is asked to call Humberside Police on 0845 6060222.
source: thisishullandeastriding.co.uk
Yorkshire Claims
Maclaren pushchairs recalled for second time
Despite two recalls in the US, and compensation payments made to injured children in the UK, the pushchair manufacturer won't issue a consumer warning in this country.
Children's pushchair manufacturer Maclaren has no plans to remind parents in the UK about the potential risk of injury to children caused by hinges on its older models, despite conducting a second recall of the strollers in the USA.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the US has reannounced a recall of all single and double Maclaren strollers sold prior to November 2009, following further accidents involving the amputation and laceration of children's fingertips. The consumer body said Maclaren has received a total of 149 reported incidents in the US, including 37 injuries that occurred after the strollers were initially recalled in November 2009. These included five fingertip amputations, 16 lacerations and 16 fingertip entrapments/bruising.
But although solicitors handling claims on behalf of British children have continued to take on new cases for injuries incurred after 2009, Maclaren says there is no need to recall buggies in this country – or even warn parents that their children could be at risk if they fail to take certain precautions.
The injuries occur when children's fingers are trapped in the hinges of their folding pushchairs. Maclaren claimed that models sold in the UK were not affected by the problem, but the firm has already compensated more than 40 children in the UK, paying between £2,500 and £10,000 despite refusing to admit liability for the injuries incurred.
Richard Langton, managing partner with solicitors Russell Jones and Walker, which led the group litigation against Maclaren in the UK, says he has handled more than 80 cases and knows of about 25 being dealt with by other firms. Of these, eight involved injuries which occured last year and one this year.
Maclaren has a safety update link on the front of its UK website, warning parents to make sure their children are kept away from buggies while they are opened and closed, and is offering free hinge covers. The company has distributed 300,000 such covers in the past 18 months, mostly in the US.
On its website Maclaren says: "The cover is not required for the safe use of the buggy, but is an additional safety measure in respect of the operation of opening or closing the stroller. The patented design right to this safety enhancement was waived by Maclaren allowing other manufacturers, with similar style side hinge mechanisms, to supply the same measure to their customers. The old style side hinge design continues to be widely used by many manufacturers whose products pose an inherent risk of finger entrapment; no different to the hazards associated with any goods containing moving parts."
Maclaren strollers sold after May 2010 have a different enclosed hinge design with no entrapment points, but many second-hand buggies with the old hinge design are still sold on eBay.
Joellen Bradford, chief marketing officer for Maclaren, said a recall in the US did not have the same connotation as in the UK of having to actually return a product to the manufacturer because it is unsafe to use, and added that the company had not had to advertise in the US to inform customers about the potential problems. "We didn't publicise this. It was the CPSC announcement [that made people aware of the issue]."
She added: "We feel we are reminding [parents] through our website and Facebook page. We've tried to get the word out through social media."
Langton said: "Incredibly, the UK authorities are either unable or unwilling to act. I, and many of the families I've acted for, would like to see Trading Standards take robust action and demand a full product recall from the manufacturer and the retailers involved.
"At the end of the day, compensation cannot turn back the clock and the focus here should be firmly on child safety. Whilst the hinges have at last been made safe on new buggies being sold, there are millions of them still in use and still causing injuries."
• Hinge covers can be obtained by calling 01327 841320 or, if calling from outside the UK, 00 44 1327 841320, or alternatively can be ordered online.
source: guardian.co.uk
Amputation Claims
Children's pushchair manufacturer Maclaren has no plans to remind parents in the UK about the potential risk of injury to children caused by hinges on its older models, despite conducting a second recall of the strollers in the USA.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the US has reannounced a recall of all single and double Maclaren strollers sold prior to November 2009, following further accidents involving the amputation and laceration of children's fingertips. The consumer body said Maclaren has received a total of 149 reported incidents in the US, including 37 injuries that occurred after the strollers were initially recalled in November 2009. These included five fingertip amputations, 16 lacerations and 16 fingertip entrapments/bruising.
But although solicitors handling claims on behalf of British children have continued to take on new cases for injuries incurred after 2009, Maclaren says there is no need to recall buggies in this country – or even warn parents that their children could be at risk if they fail to take certain precautions.
The injuries occur when children's fingers are trapped in the hinges of their folding pushchairs. Maclaren claimed that models sold in the UK were not affected by the problem, but the firm has already compensated more than 40 children in the UK, paying between £2,500 and £10,000 despite refusing to admit liability for the injuries incurred.
Richard Langton, managing partner with solicitors Russell Jones and Walker, which led the group litigation against Maclaren in the UK, says he has handled more than 80 cases and knows of about 25 being dealt with by other firms. Of these, eight involved injuries which occured last year and one this year.
Maclaren has a safety update link on the front of its UK website, warning parents to make sure their children are kept away from buggies while they are opened and closed, and is offering free hinge covers. The company has distributed 300,000 such covers in the past 18 months, mostly in the US.
On its website Maclaren says: "The cover is not required for the safe use of the buggy, but is an additional safety measure in respect of the operation of opening or closing the stroller. The patented design right to this safety enhancement was waived by Maclaren allowing other manufacturers, with similar style side hinge mechanisms, to supply the same measure to their customers. The old style side hinge design continues to be widely used by many manufacturers whose products pose an inherent risk of finger entrapment; no different to the hazards associated with any goods containing moving parts."
Maclaren strollers sold after May 2010 have a different enclosed hinge design with no entrapment points, but many second-hand buggies with the old hinge design are still sold on eBay.
Joellen Bradford, chief marketing officer for Maclaren, said a recall in the US did not have the same connotation as in the UK of having to actually return a product to the manufacturer because it is unsafe to use, and added that the company had not had to advertise in the US to inform customers about the potential problems. "We didn't publicise this. It was the CPSC announcement [that made people aware of the issue]."
She added: "We feel we are reminding [parents] through our website and Facebook page. We've tried to get the word out through social media."
Langton said: "Incredibly, the UK authorities are either unable or unwilling to act. I, and many of the families I've acted for, would like to see Trading Standards take robust action and demand a full product recall from the manufacturer and the retailers involved.
"At the end of the day, compensation cannot turn back the clock and the focus here should be firmly on child safety. Whilst the hinges have at last been made safe on new buggies being sold, there are millions of them still in use and still causing injuries."
• Hinge covers can be obtained by calling 01327 841320 or, if calling from outside the UK, 00 44 1327 841320, or alternatively can be ordered online.
source: guardian.co.uk
Amputation Claims
Resident James Paul angry at Enfield Homes after asbestos found in garden
AN ENFIELD man labelled a housing association “a disgrace” after asbestos was found in soil they used to fill in his garden.
James Paul, of Cypress Avenue, asked Enfield Homes to level out his back garden after it was deemed dangerous for his two young children to play in because of steep drops.
But when contractors used 30 tonnes of soil to complete the work last summer, Mr Paul said he was shocked to find nappies, metal and glass in the soil, as well as white rocks – which later tests proved to be asbestos.
He said: “I have two young children and have not let them play in the garden of I am frightened of them being exposed to any level of asbestos whatsoever.
“This contaminated soil has now been in my garden for nearly a year – it's an absolute disgrace.”
After complaints by Mr Paul, tests carried out by workers found that the white rocks were chrysotile – a common type of asbestos used in buildings in the past but now banned by the European Union.
Mr Paul claims that workers from Enfield Homes told him that the asbestos was at safe levels.
But he added: “Their workers go out their to do tests in protective clothing when they dig up samples, but my kids are allowed to go out in their bare feet? It's crazy.
“My son likes digging up worms and all the things that small children do - he could go out there and put asbestos in his mouth and that could be the end of his life.”
Mr Paul believes that the soil is actually building rubble mixed with garden waste – with cement dust from the rubble explaining its grey colour.
Enfield Homes carried out more tests on the soil last week and are awaiting the results of these before taking any action, but said it used certified topsoil when the work was carried out in July last year.
In a statement, it said: “This certificate established that the soil was sandy loam top soil, without any contamination.
“Following this Mr Paul advised that he had concerns about the content of the soil. Tests were carried out and two small pieces of asbestos have been found in isolated areas in the garden.
“It is unclear at this time where these came from. Further investigation is ongoing at present to establish if there is any contamination of the said soil.
“The result of our investigation will inform us as to any further action required.”
In a letter to Enfield North MP Nick de Bois, seen by the Enfield Independent, Enfield Homes admitted that their expert had recommended "a complete replacement of the topsoil and turf".
source: enfieldindependent.co.uk
Asbestos Claims
James Paul, of Cypress Avenue, asked Enfield Homes to level out his back garden after it was deemed dangerous for his two young children to play in because of steep drops.
But when contractors used 30 tonnes of soil to complete the work last summer, Mr Paul said he was shocked to find nappies, metal and glass in the soil, as well as white rocks – which later tests proved to be asbestos.
He said: “I have two young children and have not let them play in the garden of I am frightened of them being exposed to any level of asbestos whatsoever.
“This contaminated soil has now been in my garden for nearly a year – it's an absolute disgrace.”
After complaints by Mr Paul, tests carried out by workers found that the white rocks were chrysotile – a common type of asbestos used in buildings in the past but now banned by the European Union.
Mr Paul claims that workers from Enfield Homes told him that the asbestos was at safe levels.
But he added: “Their workers go out their to do tests in protective clothing when they dig up samples, but my kids are allowed to go out in their bare feet? It's crazy.
“My son likes digging up worms and all the things that small children do - he could go out there and put asbestos in his mouth and that could be the end of his life.”
Mr Paul believes that the soil is actually building rubble mixed with garden waste – with cement dust from the rubble explaining its grey colour.
Enfield Homes carried out more tests on the soil last week and are awaiting the results of these before taking any action, but said it used certified topsoil when the work was carried out in July last year.
In a statement, it said: “This certificate established that the soil was sandy loam top soil, without any contamination.
“Following this Mr Paul advised that he had concerns about the content of the soil. Tests were carried out and two small pieces of asbestos have been found in isolated areas in the garden.
“It is unclear at this time where these came from. Further investigation is ongoing at present to establish if there is any contamination of the said soil.
“The result of our investigation will inform us as to any further action required.”
In a letter to Enfield North MP Nick de Bois, seen by the Enfield Independent, Enfield Homes admitted that their expert had recommended "a complete replacement of the topsoil and turf".
source: enfieldindependent.co.uk
Asbestos Claims
'He can even wriggle his toes': Mother's joy after seven-year-old with cerebral palsy has pioneering operation to help him walk
A seven-year-old with cerebral palsy has been given the chance of a ‘normal life’ by a pioneering operation to help him walk unaided.
The operation, using a method which has evolved over the last 30 years, was carried out for the first time in the UK at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
Beau Britton, from Kelly Bray in Cornwall, had the operation three weeks ago using what is called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), and his mother Tracey says his life has already changed dramatically.
The new version of SDR concentrates on the lower part of the spinal cord, increasing its effectiveness and reducing risk.
Mrs Britton said: 'What has amazed me are some of the instant effects. As far as we can tell he is not waking up with cramps at night due to spasticity any more, something which has caused major sleep deprivation for all of us over the last seven years.
'Also his cerebral palsy meant that his legs were crossed and his feet were planted on top of each other. They are now straight and getting him dressed is so much easier because his overall balance has improved so much.
'He was sitting on the sofa the other day and started dangling his legs over the edge.
'This may sound like a really small thing but he has never been able to do this before. He can also wriggle his toes.'
Beau has already undergone two weeks of intensive physiotherapy but will need physiotherapy every day for at least two years, as well as hydrotherapy.
Mrs Britton added: 'We know this is a long-term thing and we are fully prepared for that.
'My ultimate aim is for Beau to walk without his wheelchair or walking frame. But that is a long time off and it is difficult to think that far ahead at the moment.'
The first operation at Frenchay Hospital was carried out by consultant neurosurgeon Kristian Aquilina in early May.
It involves the division of some of the nerves as they enter the spinal cord to free up constricting muscles caused by lower limb spasticity or increased muscle tone.
If performed early enough, problems related to lower limb spasticity, such as muscle shortening, contractures and abnormal bone growth, can be reduced or even eliminated.
If Beau did not receive the operation on the NHS, Mrs Britton said the family would have needed to raise £40,000 to take him to the US for the operation.
Mrs Britton said: 'We would have had no option other than to fundraise. We feel incredibly fortunate that Beau has been able to have this procedure on the NHS in Bristol. The care he received from Kristian and all the staff at Frenchay was just wonderful.'
Beau has previously had extensive orthopaedic surgery on both legs and hips and, without SDR, this would have been on-going throughout his life.
Mrs Britton said: 'We would love Beau to do some of the things other children take for granted: to wear wellies and splash in the puddles, and to go to the beach and wear flip-flops.
'It would be wonderful to take him skiing and we would love him to be able to experience the freedom of independent movement and, if ever possible, to dance.'
Thanking the consultant who worked on Beau, she said: 'He has given Beau a second chance, a chance of a more normal life, which is priceless.'
Mr Aquilina said: 'Up to now, SDR, in its traditional form only, has been available at one hospital in the country; and this year alone 40 families from the UK have gone to the United States for SDR at their own expense.
'We have now set up a multidisciplinary team at Frenchay Hospital to evaluate and select children for SDR. This team consists of paediatric physiotherapists with special expertise in cerebral palsy, a paediatric neurosurgeon, a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and a paediatric neurologist.
'Our first micro-neurosurgical SDR, also the first in the UK, was performed in Frenchay on May 3. The patient went on to have two weeks of intensive in-patient physiotherapy and is now at home where he will undergo more months of physiotherapy before he and his family start to see the real benefits.'
One of the common causes of cerebral palsy is premature birth. Extensive evidence now exists, recently recognised by Nice, which demonstrates the value of SDR for children with the condition.
source: dailymail.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
The operation, using a method which has evolved over the last 30 years, was carried out for the first time in the UK at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
Beau Britton, from Kelly Bray in Cornwall, had the operation three weeks ago using what is called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), and his mother Tracey says his life has already changed dramatically.
The new version of SDR concentrates on the lower part of the spinal cord, increasing its effectiveness and reducing risk.
Mrs Britton said: 'What has amazed me are some of the instant effects. As far as we can tell he is not waking up with cramps at night due to spasticity any more, something which has caused major sleep deprivation for all of us over the last seven years.
'Also his cerebral palsy meant that his legs were crossed and his feet were planted on top of each other. They are now straight and getting him dressed is so much easier because his overall balance has improved so much.
'He was sitting on the sofa the other day and started dangling his legs over the edge.
'This may sound like a really small thing but he has never been able to do this before. He can also wriggle his toes.'
Beau has already undergone two weeks of intensive physiotherapy but will need physiotherapy every day for at least two years, as well as hydrotherapy.
Mrs Britton added: 'We know this is a long-term thing and we are fully prepared for that.
'My ultimate aim is for Beau to walk without his wheelchair or walking frame. But that is a long time off and it is difficult to think that far ahead at the moment.'
The first operation at Frenchay Hospital was carried out by consultant neurosurgeon Kristian Aquilina in early May.
It involves the division of some of the nerves as they enter the spinal cord to free up constricting muscles caused by lower limb spasticity or increased muscle tone.
If performed early enough, problems related to lower limb spasticity, such as muscle shortening, contractures and abnormal bone growth, can be reduced or even eliminated.
If Beau did not receive the operation on the NHS, Mrs Britton said the family would have needed to raise £40,000 to take him to the US for the operation.
Mrs Britton said: 'We would have had no option other than to fundraise. We feel incredibly fortunate that Beau has been able to have this procedure on the NHS in Bristol. The care he received from Kristian and all the staff at Frenchay was just wonderful.'
Beau has previously had extensive orthopaedic surgery on both legs and hips and, without SDR, this would have been on-going throughout his life.
Mrs Britton said: 'We would love Beau to do some of the things other children take for granted: to wear wellies and splash in the puddles, and to go to the beach and wear flip-flops.
'It would be wonderful to take him skiing and we would love him to be able to experience the freedom of independent movement and, if ever possible, to dance.'
Thanking the consultant who worked on Beau, she said: 'He has given Beau a second chance, a chance of a more normal life, which is priceless.'
Mr Aquilina said: 'Up to now, SDR, in its traditional form only, has been available at one hospital in the country; and this year alone 40 families from the UK have gone to the United States for SDR at their own expense.
'We have now set up a multidisciplinary team at Frenchay Hospital to evaluate and select children for SDR. This team consists of paediatric physiotherapists with special expertise in cerebral palsy, a paediatric neurosurgeon, a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and a paediatric neurologist.
'Our first micro-neurosurgical SDR, also the first in the UK, was performed in Frenchay on May 3. The patient went on to have two weeks of intensive in-patient physiotherapy and is now at home where he will undergo more months of physiotherapy before he and his family start to see the real benefits.'
One of the common causes of cerebral palsy is premature birth. Extensive evidence now exists, recently recognised by Nice, which demonstrates the value of SDR for children with the condition.
source: dailymail.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
Compensation for Food Poisoning Victims
Twenty people including four children have recovered damages for their suffering they endured after contracting salmonella food poisoning.
The cliams were brought by local solicitor, Andrew Sears of Andrew & Andrew LLP against the Tenth Hole Tea Rooms, Eastern Parade.
Andrew Sears says "the thorough work of the Health Protection Agency confirmed the likely source of the outbreak."
It is thought that the Tenth Hole Tea Room is now once more a thriving business under new ownership and management.
The outbreak affected some fifty customers of the Tea Rooms.
If any other victims wish to bring a claim, they have up until the 31st July 2012 to start Court Proceedings.
Andrew & Andrew Solicitors
The cliams were brought by local solicitor, Andrew Sears of Andrew & Andrew LLP against the Tenth Hole Tea Rooms, Eastern Parade.
Andrew Sears says "the thorough work of the Health Protection Agency confirmed the likely source of the outbreak."
It is thought that the Tenth Hole Tea Room is now once more a thriving business under new ownership and management.
The outbreak affected some fifty customers of the Tea Rooms.
If any other victims wish to bring a claim, they have up until the 31st July 2012 to start Court Proceedings.
Andrew & Andrew Solicitors
Hospital settles after hairdresser suffers anaphylactic shock from latex allergy
(Thompsons Solicitors)
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Cerebral palsy sufferer Jake jets out to USA for hospital check-up
CEREBRAL palsy sufferer Jake Storr is today flying back to America to see if he requires more surgery to strengthen his chances of regularly walking unaided.
His parents say the nine-year-old, from Holton-le- Clay, has made “great progress” and can often be seen walking around his school without the use of his walking stick.
As reported, in March last year Jake underwent the potentially life-changing revolutionary selective dorsal rhizotomy operation in America, made possible thanks to a £40,000 fundraising appeal supported by the Grimsby Telegraph.
The Holton-le-Clay Junior School pupil’s muscles were so weak because of his cerebral palsy, that he had never been able to walk unaided.
Now his parents Tina and Gavin are preparing to fly back to St Louis Children’s Hospital for his first check-up.
Gavin said: “He will have a medical and physio assessment and the possibility of minor surgery on his hamstring muscles.
“We won’t know for definite until Thursday whether he needs it or not.”
Due to the costs of the trip and possible surgery, his family are continuing to raise money.
Gavin has organised a golf day at Immingham Golf Club on Friday, July 29, while on Sunday, August 28, there will be a Michael Buble-themed swing night at Oaklands Hotel.
“St Louis said we had to go back within a year just to see how he is getting on and for a physio assessment and after that they can follow his progress via a video link,” said Gavin.
“My wife, my daughter and I are going out there with him, and a few days later his grandma, aunt and my youngest son will join us.
“To go 14 hours is a long way just to go to the hospital so we are going to have a few days out there as a family.
“We expect to be there for about 10 days in total. How long we are at the hospital depends on what they say about the surgery.”
Gavin said Jake has progressed really well in the last year.
He said: “He does a lot of walking around school and now he is having physiotherapy and we found a local girl to give him private sessions.
“Because his muscles are quite weak he is susceptible to injury and has suffered with a twisted ankle and pulled muscles.
“He hasn’t got a lot on him because he burns it off so we are off to see a dietician.”
Football fan Jake was offered the chance to be a mascot at Grimsby Town’s final match of last season against Altrincham.
Gavin said: “Because he had a twisted ankle we decided he couldn’t go because we want him to be able to experience it properly, and hopefully he can next season.”
The golf day is a team event, starting at 8.30am and costing £25 per player or £100 per team, including a buffet.
Starting at 7.30pm, the swing event is £27 a ticket, including a three-course meal, live singer and disco. To take part in the golf day or for swing tickets, call Gavin on 07989808283 or email gavinstorr1@hotmail.co.uk
source: thisisgrimsby.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
His parents say the nine-year-old, from Holton-le- Clay, has made “great progress” and can often be seen walking around his school without the use of his walking stick.
As reported, in March last year Jake underwent the potentially life-changing revolutionary selective dorsal rhizotomy operation in America, made possible thanks to a £40,000 fundraising appeal supported by the Grimsby Telegraph.
The Holton-le-Clay Junior School pupil’s muscles were so weak because of his cerebral palsy, that he had never been able to walk unaided.
Now his parents Tina and Gavin are preparing to fly back to St Louis Children’s Hospital for his first check-up.
Gavin said: “He will have a medical and physio assessment and the possibility of minor surgery on his hamstring muscles.
“We won’t know for definite until Thursday whether he needs it or not.”
Due to the costs of the trip and possible surgery, his family are continuing to raise money.
Gavin has organised a golf day at Immingham Golf Club on Friday, July 29, while on Sunday, August 28, there will be a Michael Buble-themed swing night at Oaklands Hotel.
“St Louis said we had to go back within a year just to see how he is getting on and for a physio assessment and after that they can follow his progress via a video link,” said Gavin.
“My wife, my daughter and I are going out there with him, and a few days later his grandma, aunt and my youngest son will join us.
“To go 14 hours is a long way just to go to the hospital so we are going to have a few days out there as a family.
“We expect to be there for about 10 days in total. How long we are at the hospital depends on what they say about the surgery.”
Gavin said Jake has progressed really well in the last year.
He said: “He does a lot of walking around school and now he is having physiotherapy and we found a local girl to give him private sessions.
“Because his muscles are quite weak he is susceptible to injury and has suffered with a twisted ankle and pulled muscles.
“He hasn’t got a lot on him because he burns it off so we are off to see a dietician.”
Football fan Jake was offered the chance to be a mascot at Grimsby Town’s final match of last season against Altrincham.
Gavin said: “Because he had a twisted ankle we decided he couldn’t go because we want him to be able to experience it properly, and hopefully he can next season.”
The golf day is a team event, starting at 8.30am and costing £25 per player or £100 per team, including a buffet.
Starting at 7.30pm, the swing event is £27 a ticket, including a three-course meal, live singer and disco. To take part in the golf day or for swing tickets, call Gavin on 07989808283 or email gavinstorr1@hotmail.co.uk
source: thisisgrimsby.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
Monday 23 May 2011
Belfast passenger train hit by falling tree
A passenger train was hit by a falling tree in high winds near Belfast today.
Nobody was hurt in the incident on the line near Cultra, Co Down, but the driver of the train, which had been on its way from Bangor, was treated for shock.
The Met Office reported gales of up to 70mph. Some roads in and around Newry, Downpatrick and Banbridge, all in Co Down, were blocked by fallen trees.
Ferry services between Belfast and Stranraer and Cairnryan, Scotland, were also hit and sailings between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island off the north coast were halted as well.
source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Passenger Claims
Nobody was hurt in the incident on the line near Cultra, Co Down, but the driver of the train, which had been on its way from Bangor, was treated for shock.
The Met Office reported gales of up to 70mph. Some roads in and around Newry, Downpatrick and Banbridge, all in Co Down, were blocked by fallen trees.
Ferry services between Belfast and Stranraer and Cairnryan, Scotland, were also hit and sailings between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island off the north coast were halted as well.
source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Passenger Claims
Friday 20 May 2011
Boston hospital patient wins £100k payout ...28 years after botched foot operation
A WOMAN who suffered years of debilitating pain after a botched operation on her foot has won £100,000 in compensation nearly three decades after the procedure was carried out.
The woman – Mrs P – was left with a shortened left foot by an inappropriate and botched operation to remove painful corns at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, in 1983, when she was 32.
She suffered years of pain and discomfort but was led to believe by her GP and consultant that nothing more could be done and she resolved to accept the situation as her lot.
By late 2006, however, the pain had become intolerable and, at her daughter's insistence, she sought legal advice and also saw a new GP, who referred her to a consultant in Nottingham.
Further surgery greatly relieved her condition but her surgeon was highly critical of her earlier treatment and, at this point, she decided to seek damages.
This claim highlights the issue of limitation in some claims
Following the settlement, a joint statement from ULHT and NHS East Midlands was issued to the Echo.
It said: "This was a difficult case with differing opinions between the experts instructed by both parties. We are pleased that Mrs P is happy with the outcome.
"Mrs P's claim has been settled by NHS East Midlands, the strategic health authority (SHA). Although the SHA did not exist at the time of this incident, it is legally responsible for any claim made before the creation of NHS trusts."
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
(this is an edited version for claimsnews.co.uk)
Lincolnshire Claims
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Error
The woman – Mrs P – was left with a shortened left foot by an inappropriate and botched operation to remove painful corns at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, in 1983, when she was 32.
She suffered years of pain and discomfort but was led to believe by her GP and consultant that nothing more could be done and she resolved to accept the situation as her lot.
By late 2006, however, the pain had become intolerable and, at her daughter's insistence, she sought legal advice and also saw a new GP, who referred her to a consultant in Nottingham.
Further surgery greatly relieved her condition but her surgeon was highly critical of her earlier treatment and, at this point, she decided to seek damages.
This claim highlights the issue of limitation in some claims
Following the settlement, a joint statement from ULHT and NHS East Midlands was issued to the Echo.
It said: "This was a difficult case with differing opinions between the experts instructed by both parties. We are pleased that Mrs P is happy with the outcome.
"Mrs P's claim has been settled by NHS East Midlands, the strategic health authority (SHA). Although the SHA did not exist at the time of this incident, it is legally responsible for any claim made before the creation of NHS trusts."
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
(this is an edited version for claimsnews.co.uk)
Lincolnshire Claims
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Error
Thursday 19 May 2011
Law firms in cash call to partners
At least five of the top-20 law firms are planning to make a capital call on partners, the Gazette has learned.
Mid-tier firms are also seeking to shore up their balance sheets, with at least 15 of the firms in the 20-50 size bracket seeking to retain more funds in the business by reducing partner payouts.
Research by accountants Smith & Williamson (S&W) seen exclusively by the Gazette showed that, of 10 top-20 firms interviewed, five had either already asked partners to inject capital into the firm, or were contemplating doing so.
Firms’ demands for capital contributions have led to a rise in partners’ personal borrowing at three top-20 firms, the S&W research suggests.
In the mid-tier, while only three of the 19 firms questioned planned to make a capital call, some 15 firms (79%) said they were looking to retain more funds within the business, by allowing less to be distributed to partners.
Top-tier firms were also adopting this approach, with four out of ten firms interviewed revealing that they intended to limit partner distribution, or had already done so.
The measures reflect an attempt by firms to create a financial buffer to meet the triple challenge of lower income, later settlement of bills by clients, and a reluctance by banks to lend to the sector.
Giles Murphy, S&W head of professional practices, said that where top-tier partners were asked to contribute capital, the sums involved were likely to be in the region of £200,000.
He said: ‘This will be more comfortable for a partner in his fifties, who will have benefited from a profit share for a number of years.
'It’s more of an issue for newer equity partners who have not built up wealth from the profit share, and may have more demands on their income.
'You then get on to the question of whether it is fairer to differentiate [between partners], but most firms tend to seek one amount from all.’
Tony Williams, a consultant at Jomati, said: ‘It is not untypical to see between half and three-quarters of partners’ income now being held back in one way or another. Whether it is a capital call or reduced distribution, it is still cash.'
Following Gazette enquiries, 12 top-tier firms said they were not planning to make a capital call on partners: Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells, Eversheds, Simmons & Simmons, Pinsent Masons, Taylor Wessing, SJ Berwin, Addleshaw Goddard, Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith (which does not hold partner capital).
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said that ‘as a matter of policy’ it does not comment on financials beyond an annual results statement, as did Berwin Leighton Paisner.
DLA said it had ‘no information to issue in relation to partner capital’. CMS Cameron McKenna declined to comment.
Five firms did not provide a response to the Gazette’s inquiry: Norton Rose, Ashurst, Bird & Bird, and Clyde & Co.
source: lawgazette.co.uk
Law Firm Management Consultants
Mid-tier firms are also seeking to shore up their balance sheets, with at least 15 of the firms in the 20-50 size bracket seeking to retain more funds in the business by reducing partner payouts.
Research by accountants Smith & Williamson (S&W) seen exclusively by the Gazette showed that, of 10 top-20 firms interviewed, five had either already asked partners to inject capital into the firm, or were contemplating doing so.
Firms’ demands for capital contributions have led to a rise in partners’ personal borrowing at three top-20 firms, the S&W research suggests.
In the mid-tier, while only three of the 19 firms questioned planned to make a capital call, some 15 firms (79%) said they were looking to retain more funds within the business, by allowing less to be distributed to partners.
Top-tier firms were also adopting this approach, with four out of ten firms interviewed revealing that they intended to limit partner distribution, or had already done so.
The measures reflect an attempt by firms to create a financial buffer to meet the triple challenge of lower income, later settlement of bills by clients, and a reluctance by banks to lend to the sector.
Giles Murphy, S&W head of professional practices, said that where top-tier partners were asked to contribute capital, the sums involved were likely to be in the region of £200,000.
He said: ‘This will be more comfortable for a partner in his fifties, who will have benefited from a profit share for a number of years.
'It’s more of an issue for newer equity partners who have not built up wealth from the profit share, and may have more demands on their income.
'You then get on to the question of whether it is fairer to differentiate [between partners], but most firms tend to seek one amount from all.’
Tony Williams, a consultant at Jomati, said: ‘It is not untypical to see between half and three-quarters of partners’ income now being held back in one way or another. Whether it is a capital call or reduced distribution, it is still cash.'
Following Gazette enquiries, 12 top-tier firms said they were not planning to make a capital call on partners: Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells, Eversheds, Simmons & Simmons, Pinsent Masons, Taylor Wessing, SJ Berwin, Addleshaw Goddard, Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith (which does not hold partner capital).
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said that ‘as a matter of policy’ it does not comment on financials beyond an annual results statement, as did Berwin Leighton Paisner.
DLA said it had ‘no information to issue in relation to partner capital’. CMS Cameron McKenna declined to comment.
Five firms did not provide a response to the Gazette’s inquiry: Norton Rose, Ashurst, Bird & Bird, and Clyde & Co.
source: lawgazette.co.uk
Law Firm Management Consultants
Lincolnshire Police officer spared jail after appeal over crash that killed father-of-two
AN OFF-duty Lincolnshire police inspector whose carelessness behind the wheel killed a dad-of-two in a horrific car crash has failed in a Court Of Appeal bid to clear his name.
But Paul John Stubbs, 34, who was convicted of careless driving over the incident near Lincoln, saw his chances of keeping his job boosted when judges quashed his suspended jail term.
Stubbs was given a 36-week prison term, suspended for two years, after he was found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court last October.
He appealed against both conviction and sentence and, although three top judges upheld the guilty verdict, his sentence was downgraded to a community order.
Lord Justice Pill said the suspended jail term, which would have seen Stubbs almost certainly dismissed from the force, was not essential.
John Williamson, 49, of Bassingham Road in Aubourn, near Lincoln, died after the officer ploughed into his parked car after failing to spot him in the road on time in Burton on November 1, 2009.
In his appeal, Stubbs' lawyers argued expert evidence of a phenomenon known as "inattentional blindness" should have been allowed into the trial.
An expert said that Stubbs, of Bawtry, near Doncaster, may have experienced the phenomenon – when people genuinely look out but still do not spot hazards – at the time of the smash.
Even though Mr Williamson's car was visible for around 300 metres, its lights may have been shielded for a period, by which time the policeman's focus would have been further down the road.
But Lord Justice Pill, who heard the appeal in London with Mr Justice Bean and Mrs Justice Macur, rejected the argument and upheld the conviction.
"Inattentional blindness may explain the happening of the accident, but it doesn't follow that it necessarily excuses it," said the appeal judge. "We have no doubt about the safety of this verdict."
But, turning to the sentence appeal, he said: "We have come to the conclusion that, in the circumstances of this case, a custodial sentence was not essential. In the circumstances, this case could appropriately have been dealt with by a community order."
Stubbs' community order will involve him having to do 250 hours' unpaid community work, but he had already completed 150 hours before the appeal hearing. His driving ban was cut from three years to 18 months.
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
Lincolnshire Claims
But Paul John Stubbs, 34, who was convicted of careless driving over the incident near Lincoln, saw his chances of keeping his job boosted when judges quashed his suspended jail term.
Stubbs was given a 36-week prison term, suspended for two years, after he was found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court last October.
He appealed against both conviction and sentence and, although three top judges upheld the guilty verdict, his sentence was downgraded to a community order.
Lord Justice Pill said the suspended jail term, which would have seen Stubbs almost certainly dismissed from the force, was not essential.
John Williamson, 49, of Bassingham Road in Aubourn, near Lincoln, died after the officer ploughed into his parked car after failing to spot him in the road on time in Burton on November 1, 2009.
In his appeal, Stubbs' lawyers argued expert evidence of a phenomenon known as "inattentional blindness" should have been allowed into the trial.
An expert said that Stubbs, of Bawtry, near Doncaster, may have experienced the phenomenon – when people genuinely look out but still do not spot hazards – at the time of the smash.
Even though Mr Williamson's car was visible for around 300 metres, its lights may have been shielded for a period, by which time the policeman's focus would have been further down the road.
But Lord Justice Pill, who heard the appeal in London with Mr Justice Bean and Mrs Justice Macur, rejected the argument and upheld the conviction.
"Inattentional blindness may explain the happening of the accident, but it doesn't follow that it necessarily excuses it," said the appeal judge. "We have no doubt about the safety of this verdict."
But, turning to the sentence appeal, he said: "We have come to the conclusion that, in the circumstances of this case, a custodial sentence was not essential. In the circumstances, this case could appropriately have been dealt with by a community order."
Stubbs' community order will involve him having to do 250 hours' unpaid community work, but he had already completed 150 hours before the appeal hearing. His driving ban was cut from three years to 18 months.
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
Lincolnshire Claims
Girl, 11, suffered head injuries after falling from fairground ride
A FUNFAIR ride operator from Walsall was fined last week after admitting fault when a girl suffered a head wound when she was thrown from a moving car at a Birmingham park.
Robert Wilkinson, of Lime Lane, Pelsall, Walsall, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety rules at the Health and Safety Executive prosecution at Birmingham Magistrates' Court with the HSE investigation finding the lap belts in the ride cars were "poorly maintained" and most had been so badly damaged they were "unusable".
He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £2,708 costs. The 11-year-old victim was on the DJ Jump ride at the funfair in Pype Hayes Park, Erdington in April 2009 when its lap bar failed and its secondary safety measure, a lap belt, was unusable causing her to be jettisoned from the vehicle. She required 10 stitches to a five centimetre head wound and numerous cuts and bruises.
HSE inspector Gareth Langston said: "This was a preventable incident that resulted in a serious injury to a child who had been enjoying herself on a family day out.
"Fairground operators must make sure not only that the main system to keep passengers safely in the ride is properly serviced, but also that back-up can be used for long enough to stop the ride safely if the main system fails.
"Back-up safety systems, such as lap belts, must be maintained adequately at all times. Mr Wilkinson failed to do this."
The HSE said free guidance on safe practice at fairgrounds and amusement parks is available from them. "It's vital that all operators follow this carefully to ensure they don't put members of the public – often children –at risk," Mr Langston said.
source: thisiswalsallonline.co.uk
Head Injury Claims
Robert Wilkinson, of Lime Lane, Pelsall, Walsall, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety rules at the Health and Safety Executive prosecution at Birmingham Magistrates' Court with the HSE investigation finding the lap belts in the ride cars were "poorly maintained" and most had been so badly damaged they were "unusable".
He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £2,708 costs. The 11-year-old victim was on the DJ Jump ride at the funfair in Pype Hayes Park, Erdington in April 2009 when its lap bar failed and its secondary safety measure, a lap belt, was unusable causing her to be jettisoned from the vehicle. She required 10 stitches to a five centimetre head wound and numerous cuts and bruises.
HSE inspector Gareth Langston said: "This was a preventable incident that resulted in a serious injury to a child who had been enjoying herself on a family day out.
"Fairground operators must make sure not only that the main system to keep passengers safely in the ride is properly serviced, but also that back-up can be used for long enough to stop the ride safely if the main system fails.
"Back-up safety systems, such as lap belts, must be maintained adequately at all times. Mr Wilkinson failed to do this."
The HSE said free guidance on safe practice at fairgrounds and amusement parks is available from them. "It's vital that all operators follow this carefully to ensure they don't put members of the public – often children –at risk," Mr Langston said.
source: thisiswalsallonline.co.uk
Head Injury Claims
Daw Mill colliery managers go on trial after death of miner
A jury has been asked to consider whether safety played "second fiddle" to keeping production going causing a Warwickshire coal miner to die when he was overcome by methane gas.
Prosecutors at Sheffield Crown Court described how colleagues of Trevor Steeples, 46, fought to rescue him after he was incapacitated more than 700m underground at the Daw Mill colliery, near Nuneaton.
Details of Mr Steeples's death came at the opening of the trial of two managers at the pit when the accident happened in June 2006.
John Alstead, 54, of Selby, North Yorkshire, and Terry Davison, 53, of Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, both deny breaching safety regulations.
Rex Tedd QC, prosecuting, told a jury "this wholly unnecessary loss of life followed from the fact that for weeks before, shift after shift, there had been unacceptably high levels of methane gas and unacceptably low levels of oxygen" in the area where Mr Steeples, of West Bridgford, Nottingham, had been working.
Mr Tedd said the affected areas had simply been fenced off and men continued to work in other parts of the district - which was about five miles from the pit bottom.
Opening the case, the prosecutor told the jury they would have to decide whether the managers took "unnecessary risks with the safety of the miners".
He said they would have to consider "whether safety of men underground played second fiddle to the desire to keep production going and keep coal flowing out of the mine".
Mr Tedd said Alstead was the mine manager at the time. Davison was an assistant under-manager with particular responsibilities in the 301's District of the mine, where the accident happened.
Mr Steeples was a foreman, or deputy, in the pit and had worked in the industry for many years.
Both men deny breaching parts of the Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mines Regulations. The case was adjourned until Thursday.
source: sundaymercury.net
Nottinghamshire Claims
Prosecutors at Sheffield Crown Court described how colleagues of Trevor Steeples, 46, fought to rescue him after he was incapacitated more than 700m underground at the Daw Mill colliery, near Nuneaton.
Details of Mr Steeples's death came at the opening of the trial of two managers at the pit when the accident happened in June 2006.
John Alstead, 54, of Selby, North Yorkshire, and Terry Davison, 53, of Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, both deny breaching safety regulations.
Rex Tedd QC, prosecuting, told a jury "this wholly unnecessary loss of life followed from the fact that for weeks before, shift after shift, there had been unacceptably high levels of methane gas and unacceptably low levels of oxygen" in the area where Mr Steeples, of West Bridgford, Nottingham, had been working.
Mr Tedd said the affected areas had simply been fenced off and men continued to work in other parts of the district - which was about five miles from the pit bottom.
Opening the case, the prosecutor told the jury they would have to decide whether the managers took "unnecessary risks with the safety of the miners".
He said they would have to consider "whether safety of men underground played second fiddle to the desire to keep production going and keep coal flowing out of the mine".
Mr Tedd said Alstead was the mine manager at the time. Davison was an assistant under-manager with particular responsibilities in the 301's District of the mine, where the accident happened.
Mr Steeples was a foreman, or deputy, in the pit and had worked in the industry for many years.
Both men deny breaching parts of the Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mines Regulations. The case was adjourned until Thursday.
source: sundaymercury.net
Nottinghamshire Claims
Birmingham council care cuts 'frighten me to death'
A 74-year-old widow with cerebral palsy is worried that Birmingham City Council cuts will mean the loss of carers who are her only lifeline.
Falling on an uneven pavement in 1981 left Doreen Greenhill unable to walk.
She was born with cerebral palsy, which limited her movement on the right hand side of her body, but until the accident she had been able to lead an independent life.
From her flat in Kings Norton, Birmingham, she held down a job packing car parts and, with her elder sister, helped to care for their sick mother Ivy Scranage.
Now it is Mrs Greenhill, 74, who relies on a carer to visit four times a day, to take her to the toilet and help to wash and feed her.
"We're all so worried that with these cuts they will take away our care.
"If they do, I might as well take a gun to my head as there would be no point in carrying on," she said.
'All alone'
Birmingham City Council is making multimillion-pound cuts to its adult and communities department and Mrs Greenhill has been told parts of her care, such as meals, could be stopped.
"If they stop giving me someone to cook my meals I would starve. There's no-one else who can help me.
"Everyone at the cerebral palsy centre says the same."
Her elder sister Iris Greaves, 79, lives further down her road in Tyseley, Birmingham, but is unable to visit due to her own poor health.
"If it weren't for the carers I would be all alone," Mrs Greenhill said.
After the fall in December, 1981, Mrs Greenhill's fiance Michael left his job to become her full-time carer.
"Even then we coped. He didn't have any respite care. We just got on with it, by ourselves. We've never asked for anything we aren't entitled to."
When Mr Greenhill died of colorectal cancer on 22 August 2009, she found herself completely dependent on social services for the first time in her life.
'Wish to pay'
"I can't even go to the toilet without help, I have to wait until someone comes now."
With the stress of bereavement her health deteriorated and she had a series of mini strokes.
"I say to God and to Michael, because I still talk to him, when is this going to end?
"I wish I could pay for private care myself. If I could do you think I would be relying on social services?"
She currently pays £25 per week out of her pension and disability allowance for daily care and two weekly visits to a cerebral palsy day centre.
Mrs Greenhill said she had been told by doctors that her high blood pressure and general health had worsened to such an extent she required more than four hours care per day.
Her social worker has told her she is unlikely to receive it because of the funding cuts.
She said she had been told that parts of her care were deemed "critical", like washing, and would not be affected.
Birmingham City Council said it planned to reduce care services for about 4,000 people in the next three years.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition said it needed to make £118m of cuts from its adult and communities directorate by 2014-15.
source: bbc.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
Falling on an uneven pavement in 1981 left Doreen Greenhill unable to walk.
She was born with cerebral palsy, which limited her movement on the right hand side of her body, but until the accident she had been able to lead an independent life.
From her flat in Kings Norton, Birmingham, she held down a job packing car parts and, with her elder sister, helped to care for their sick mother Ivy Scranage.
Now it is Mrs Greenhill, 74, who relies on a carer to visit four times a day, to take her to the toilet and help to wash and feed her.
"We're all so worried that with these cuts they will take away our care.
"If they do, I might as well take a gun to my head as there would be no point in carrying on," she said.
'All alone'
Birmingham City Council is making multimillion-pound cuts to its adult and communities department and Mrs Greenhill has been told parts of her care, such as meals, could be stopped.
"If they stop giving me someone to cook my meals I would starve. There's no-one else who can help me.
"Everyone at the cerebral palsy centre says the same."
Her elder sister Iris Greaves, 79, lives further down her road in Tyseley, Birmingham, but is unable to visit due to her own poor health.
"If it weren't for the carers I would be all alone," Mrs Greenhill said.
After the fall in December, 1981, Mrs Greenhill's fiance Michael left his job to become her full-time carer.
"Even then we coped. He didn't have any respite care. We just got on with it, by ourselves. We've never asked for anything we aren't entitled to."
When Mr Greenhill died of colorectal cancer on 22 August 2009, she found herself completely dependent on social services for the first time in her life.
'Wish to pay'
"I can't even go to the toilet without help, I have to wait until someone comes now."
With the stress of bereavement her health deteriorated and she had a series of mini strokes.
"I say to God and to Michael, because I still talk to him, when is this going to end?
"I wish I could pay for private care myself. If I could do you think I would be relying on social services?"
She currently pays £25 per week out of her pension and disability allowance for daily care and two weekly visits to a cerebral palsy day centre.
Mrs Greenhill said she had been told by doctors that her high blood pressure and general health had worsened to such an extent she required more than four hours care per day.
Her social worker has told her she is unlikely to receive it because of the funding cuts.
She said she had been told that parts of her care were deemed "critical", like washing, and would not be affected.
Birmingham City Council said it planned to reduce care services for about 4,000 people in the next three years.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition said it needed to make £118m of cuts from its adult and communities directorate by 2014-15.
source: bbc.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy Claims
No win no fee agreements are blamed for rise in medical negligence claims
No win no fee agreements have been blamed for a sharp rise in the number of medical negligence claims.
The Medical Defence Union says claims increased by almost 20% in 2010 after several years of stable figures.
More than half of the allegations were made against GPs for delayed or wrong diagnosis, with 15% resulting from a failure to refer patients and 10% from medication errors.
The MDU, which indemnifies more than half of GPs in the UK, today claimed that Conditional Fee Arrangements (CFAs) may be the cause of the rise.
Head of claims Jill Harding said: ‘While we cannot know all the reasons behind an individuals patient’s decision to bring a claim after an adverse event, a factor in this increase may be the availability of ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements which enable claimants to litigate with no financial risk.
‘The current difficult economic times may also be a factor.
'We see no evidence, however, of any deterioration in standards of care or in the professional relationships between our GP members and their patients.’
The MDU is continuing to lend its support for legal reform of the claims system, due to be debated in Parliament this summer following the recent publication of the Jackson Report.
Simon Oates, Chief Executive of gocompensate.com said "I am afraid Jill Harding is taking a 'fashionable' cheap shot at the 'No win no fee' market blaming these for the rise in medical negligence claims.
Solicitors not only provide a service but they also run a business and it is not in their interest to accept claims that have no prospect of success.
The rise in claims must therefore be connected with rise in negligent operations and misdiagnosis carried out by the MDU members which must surely be the top priority on Mrs Harding's desk now that she has managed to blame the legal profession".
source: lawgazette.co.uk
Medical Negligence Claims
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Errors
The Medical Defence Union says claims increased by almost 20% in 2010 after several years of stable figures.
More than half of the allegations were made against GPs for delayed or wrong diagnosis, with 15% resulting from a failure to refer patients and 10% from medication errors.
The MDU, which indemnifies more than half of GPs in the UK, today claimed that Conditional Fee Arrangements (CFAs) may be the cause of the rise.
Head of claims Jill Harding said: ‘While we cannot know all the reasons behind an individuals patient’s decision to bring a claim after an adverse event, a factor in this increase may be the availability of ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements which enable claimants to litigate with no financial risk.
‘The current difficult economic times may also be a factor.
'We see no evidence, however, of any deterioration in standards of care or in the professional relationships between our GP members and their patients.’
The MDU is continuing to lend its support for legal reform of the claims system, due to be debated in Parliament this summer following the recent publication of the Jackson Report.
Simon Oates, Chief Executive of gocompensate.com said "I am afraid Jill Harding is taking a 'fashionable' cheap shot at the 'No win no fee' market blaming these for the rise in medical negligence claims.
Solicitors not only provide a service but they also run a business and it is not in their interest to accept claims that have no prospect of success.
The rise in claims must therefore be connected with rise in negligent operations and misdiagnosis carried out by the MDU members which must surely be the top priority on Mrs Harding's desk now that she has managed to blame the legal profession".
source: lawgazette.co.uk
Medical Negligence Claims
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Errors
Wednesday 18 May 2011
Waiting time figures rise at Nottingham A&E department
The number of people who have waited more than four hours for treatment at Nottingham's accident and emergency department has increased sharply.
The figure rose from 280 patients in March and April 2010 to more than 1,500 patients in the same period in 2011.
A Queen's Medical Centre spokesman apologised, saying the winter vomiting bug was one cause for the delays.
Unison spokesman Kieran Williams said the long wait can be "very distressing" for patients.
Elderly patients
"When you are waiting to get into a ward and a comfortable bed, it can be very distressing," Mr Williams said.
He said the government cuts to social services meant the hospital was seeing more elderly patients and this was having an impact on workload.
Dr Nigel Sturrock, the QMC's clinical director for acute medicine, said some beds had had to be closed because of the winter vomiting virus during that period because of infection control problems.
He added the hospital was also seeing more people arrive at the emergency department.
"If you take a snapshot of a few weeks - and it is a bad few weeks - then I agree we have not been seeing people as fast as I would have liked to and I would like to apologise for that."
He said staff were working hard to see patients within four hours but that was not always possible.
source: bbc.co.uk
Medical Negligence
The figure rose from 280 patients in March and April 2010 to more than 1,500 patients in the same period in 2011.
A Queen's Medical Centre spokesman apologised, saying the winter vomiting bug was one cause for the delays.
Unison spokesman Kieran Williams said the long wait can be "very distressing" for patients.
Elderly patients
"When you are waiting to get into a ward and a comfortable bed, it can be very distressing," Mr Williams said.
He said the government cuts to social services meant the hospital was seeing more elderly patients and this was having an impact on workload.
Dr Nigel Sturrock, the QMC's clinical director for acute medicine, said some beds had had to be closed because of the winter vomiting virus during that period because of infection control problems.
He added the hospital was also seeing more people arrive at the emergency department.
"If you take a snapshot of a few weeks - and it is a bad few weeks - then I agree we have not been seeing people as fast as I would have liked to and I would like to apologise for that."
He said staff were working hard to see patients within four hours but that was not always possible.
source: bbc.co.uk
Medical Negligence
Two seriously injured in A38 crash
Two people have been rushed to hospital after being seriously injured in a crash on the southbound carriageway of the A38 Devon Expressway near to Chudleigh.
A police spokesman said: "Two persons who were in the vehicle have been taken to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with serious injuries."
The southbound carriageway of the A38 was closed for accident investigation work and the A38 was closed from Splattford Split with traffic diverted through Newton Abbot and back onto the A38 at Drumbridges.
Lane two of the southbound A38 has now reopened opened and there were delays while traffic started to flow freely again.
The vehicle has not yet been recovered and remains someway down a bank. Emergency vehicles will be using lane one to work while recovering the vehicle.
Police said lane one was expected to remain closed for some time. Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to please contact them on 08452 777444 quoting log 70 180511
source: middevonstar.co.uk
Devon Claims
A police spokesman said: "Two persons who were in the vehicle have been taken to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with serious injuries."
The southbound carriageway of the A38 was closed for accident investigation work and the A38 was closed from Splattford Split with traffic diverted through Newton Abbot and back onto the A38 at Drumbridges.
Lane two of the southbound A38 has now reopened opened and there were delays while traffic started to flow freely again.
The vehicle has not yet been recovered and remains someway down a bank. Emergency vehicles will be using lane one to work while recovering the vehicle.
Police said lane one was expected to remain closed for some time. Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to please contact them on 08452 777444 quoting log 70 180511
source: middevonstar.co.uk
Devon Claims
Bionic hand for 'elective amputation' patient
An Austrian man has voluntarily had his hand amputated so he can be fitted with a bionic limb.
The patient, called "Milo", aged 26, lost the use of his right hand in a motorcycle accident a decade ago.
After his stump heals in several weeks' time, he will be fitted with a bionic hand which will be controlled by nerve signals in his own arm.
The surgery is the second such elective amputation to be performed by Viennese surgeon Professor Oskar Aszmann.
The patient, a Serbian national who has lived in Austria since childhood, suffered injuries to a leg and shoulder when he skidded off his motorcycle and smashed into a lamppost in 2001 while on holiday in Serbia.
While the leg healed, what is called a "brachial plexus" injury to his right shoulder left his right arm paralysed. Nerve tissue transplanted from his leg by Professor Aszmann restored movement to his arm but not to his hand.
A further operation involving the transplantation of muscle and nerve tissue into his forearm also failed to restore movement to the hand, but it did at least boost the electric signals being delivered from his brain to his forearm, signals that could be used to drive a bionic hand.
Then three years ago, Milo was asked whether he wanted to consider elective amputation.
"The operation will change my life. I live 10 years with this hand and it cannot be (made) better. The only way is to cut this down and I get a new arm," Milo told BBC News prior to his surgery at Vienna's General Hospital.
Milo took the decision after using a hybrid hand fitted parallel to his dysfunctional hand with which he could experience controlling a prosthesis.
Such bionic hands, manufactured by the German prosthetics company Otto Bock, can pinch and grasp in response to signals from the brain that are picked up by two sensors placed over the skin above nerves in the forearm.
In effect, the patient controls the hand using the same brain signals that would have once powered similar movements in the real hand.
The wrist of the prosthesis can be rotated manually using the patient's other functioning hand (if the patient has one).
World first
Last year, a 24-year-old Austrian named Patrick was the first patient in the world to choose to have his hand amputated, again by Professor Aszmann, and a bionic replacement fitted. He lost the use of his left hand after being electrocuted at work.
He can now open a bottle quickly and tie his own shoelaces.
"My reaction was 'Oh my god, I've got a new hand!'," he told BBC News.
"I can do functions which I did with my normal hand with the prosthetic arm," he said, recalling his response to first being fitted with a bionic hand.
"I think it was very cool - I did not do things with my hand for three years and then you put on the new hand and one moment later, you can move it. It's great."
Patrick is already testing a new hand, which its makers say will give him much greater movement. The hand has six sensors fitted over nerves within the lower arm, rather than the two on his current prosthesis.
Multiple signals can be read simultaneously, enabling the patient to twist and flex their wrist back and forward, again using the same brain signals that would have powered similar movement in the real hand.
Professor Oskar Aszmann prefers to calls these elective amputations "bionic reconstruction" and has been working closely with Otto Bock, who have a research and production facility in Vienna.
Before the first operation, the professor held a symposium to discuss the procedure, to which senior surgeons and a theologian were invited.
He believes elective amputations are the best option for patients who have lost hand movement and who have no hope of regaining that movement through surgery.
"You see a patient come to you with a tremendous need for hand function and it's only a thought away to come to the next conclusion," he said.
"If the patient cannot address his only hand and I can change his anatomy in a way so he can communicate with an artificial hand, then of course I'll just take away what's there and provide a technological hand for him."
But Professor Aszmann has faced opposition in some quarters, with senior colleagues even requesting he cancel this latest operation - requests the professor promptly rejected.
He said the alternative for patients like Milo would be years of pointless surgery.
"Milorad is now 26 years old and he wants to go on with his life. To biologically reconstruct a hand for him would be a never-ending story and in the end he would still have a non-functional hand.
"It is in the patient's interest to provide him with a solution he can live with properly and successfully, and so I have no problem with cutting off his hand."
In the event, the amputation itself passed without incident.
Scar tissue from a previous operation was removed and then the hand cut off with a pneumatic saw. Tissue was then taken from the hand and transplanted to the wrist to provide a cushion for the prosthesis.
Speaking from his hospital bed following the surgery, Milo was a little drowsy, but as positive as ever.
"I feel good," he said, his bandaged arm lying on a cushion besides him.
"I'm happy that it's over and look forward."
An extended report on Milo's surgery can be seen on Wednesday's edition of Newsnight on BBC2 at 1030bst
source: bbc.co.uk
Amputation Claims
The patient, called "Milo", aged 26, lost the use of his right hand in a motorcycle accident a decade ago.
After his stump heals in several weeks' time, he will be fitted with a bionic hand which will be controlled by nerve signals in his own arm.
The surgery is the second such elective amputation to be performed by Viennese surgeon Professor Oskar Aszmann.
The patient, a Serbian national who has lived in Austria since childhood, suffered injuries to a leg and shoulder when he skidded off his motorcycle and smashed into a lamppost in 2001 while on holiday in Serbia.
While the leg healed, what is called a "brachial plexus" injury to his right shoulder left his right arm paralysed. Nerve tissue transplanted from his leg by Professor Aszmann restored movement to his arm but not to his hand.
A further operation involving the transplantation of muscle and nerve tissue into his forearm also failed to restore movement to the hand, but it did at least boost the electric signals being delivered from his brain to his forearm, signals that could be used to drive a bionic hand.
Then three years ago, Milo was asked whether he wanted to consider elective amputation.
"The operation will change my life. I live 10 years with this hand and it cannot be (made) better. The only way is to cut this down and I get a new arm," Milo told BBC News prior to his surgery at Vienna's General Hospital.
Milo took the decision after using a hybrid hand fitted parallel to his dysfunctional hand with which he could experience controlling a prosthesis.
Such bionic hands, manufactured by the German prosthetics company Otto Bock, can pinch and grasp in response to signals from the brain that are picked up by two sensors placed over the skin above nerves in the forearm.
In effect, the patient controls the hand using the same brain signals that would have once powered similar movements in the real hand.
The wrist of the prosthesis can be rotated manually using the patient's other functioning hand (if the patient has one).
World first
Last year, a 24-year-old Austrian named Patrick was the first patient in the world to choose to have his hand amputated, again by Professor Aszmann, and a bionic replacement fitted. He lost the use of his left hand after being electrocuted at work.
He can now open a bottle quickly and tie his own shoelaces.
"My reaction was 'Oh my god, I've got a new hand!'," he told BBC News.
"I can do functions which I did with my normal hand with the prosthetic arm," he said, recalling his response to first being fitted with a bionic hand.
"I think it was very cool - I did not do things with my hand for three years and then you put on the new hand and one moment later, you can move it. It's great."
Patrick is already testing a new hand, which its makers say will give him much greater movement. The hand has six sensors fitted over nerves within the lower arm, rather than the two on his current prosthesis.
Multiple signals can be read simultaneously, enabling the patient to twist and flex their wrist back and forward, again using the same brain signals that would have powered similar movement in the real hand.
Professor Oskar Aszmann prefers to calls these elective amputations "bionic reconstruction" and has been working closely with Otto Bock, who have a research and production facility in Vienna.
Before the first operation, the professor held a symposium to discuss the procedure, to which senior surgeons and a theologian were invited.
He believes elective amputations are the best option for patients who have lost hand movement and who have no hope of regaining that movement through surgery.
"You see a patient come to you with a tremendous need for hand function and it's only a thought away to come to the next conclusion," he said.
"If the patient cannot address his only hand and I can change his anatomy in a way so he can communicate with an artificial hand, then of course I'll just take away what's there and provide a technological hand for him."
But Professor Aszmann has faced opposition in some quarters, with senior colleagues even requesting he cancel this latest operation - requests the professor promptly rejected.
He said the alternative for patients like Milo would be years of pointless surgery.
"Milorad is now 26 years old and he wants to go on with his life. To biologically reconstruct a hand for him would be a never-ending story and in the end he would still have a non-functional hand.
"It is in the patient's interest to provide him with a solution he can live with properly and successfully, and so I have no problem with cutting off his hand."
In the event, the amputation itself passed without incident.
Scar tissue from a previous operation was removed and then the hand cut off with a pneumatic saw. Tissue was then taken from the hand and transplanted to the wrist to provide a cushion for the prosthesis.
Speaking from his hospital bed following the surgery, Milo was a little drowsy, but as positive as ever.
"I feel good," he said, his bandaged arm lying on a cushion besides him.
"I'm happy that it's over and look forward."
An extended report on Milo's surgery can be seen on Wednesday's edition of Newsnight on BBC2 at 1030bst
source: bbc.co.uk
Amputation Claims
Astonishing recovery of Darlington coma boy
A YOUNG boy who lay in a coma for several days after suffering a playground head injury last night spoke of his road to recovery.
Kieran Snee, 11, suffered a blood clot after he hit his head on the frame of a swing in Darlington.
For several days, his family did not know if he would live, but since he came off the critical list, his recovery has astounded doctors.
Speaking from his hospital bed, surrounded by cards and balloons from school friends and wellwishers, Kieran said: “I cannot remember what happened after the park at all. I can remember being on the swing, then waking up in hospital.
“I felt really drowsy, I wanted to go to sleep. When I did shut my eyes, I didn’t wake up for a week – so I must have been tired.”
Kieran’s parents have been joined by other family members to sit by his side in The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.
Kieran’s aunt, Kirsty Bateman, took him to Darlington Memorial Hospital on April 29 when he began to complain of headaches and sickness only two hours after he returned from the Denes play park.
Mrs Bateman said: “We were really worried. We did not know what was going to happen.
“He seemed absolutely fine when he came back to my house. My son, Jay, said they were back early because Kieran had hurt his head on a swing, but he was laughing and joking like he always is.”
The family were unaware that Keiran was suffering from bleeding on the brain after he hit his head on the metal support of a swing – an incident that has prompted a police investigation.
Mrs Bateman said: “I kept a close eye on him, then he just started being sick and complained that he was tired.
“We got him straight to the hospital, where he was rushed to the intensive care unit. We were so worried.
“They had to shave his head for the operation to remove the clot, which was half the size of his brain. He has had 77 staples and four stitches – he could have died.”
Despite waking from his coma less than a week ago, and being unable to feel the left side of his body for two days, Kieran is in remarkably good spirits.
He has managed to walk the length of his hospital room with help from his family, and will begin a comprehensive physiotherapy programme as soon as he is able to.
Kieran, who has covered his hospital room with photos of friends and family, said: “It has been really scary and I am upset that I cannot walk, but I am just looking forward to getting better.
“I am really upset about what has happened to me, but I just want to go home now and play with my dogs, Scratch and Chloe.
“I just hope my hair grows back and that I don’t end up bald like my uncle Duane.
“It can be boring in hospital, I just want to get out and see my friends.”
Two girls, aged 15 and 16, have been arrested and bailed until next month on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and public order offences.
Detective Sergeant Jim Cunningham, who is investigating the case, said the quick actions of Kieran’s family saved his life.
He said: “If anybody suffers a head injury, they need to be taken to accident and emergency straight away.
“Even if somebody seems fine. With a head injury, they can deteriorate very quickly.
“Luckily, Keiran’s family spotted the signs and got him to hospital, otherwise this could have been a lot worse.”
source: theadvertiserseries.co.uk
Brain Injury Claims
Kieran Snee, 11, suffered a blood clot after he hit his head on the frame of a swing in Darlington.
For several days, his family did not know if he would live, but since he came off the critical list, his recovery has astounded doctors.
Speaking from his hospital bed, surrounded by cards and balloons from school friends and wellwishers, Kieran said: “I cannot remember what happened after the park at all. I can remember being on the swing, then waking up in hospital.
“I felt really drowsy, I wanted to go to sleep. When I did shut my eyes, I didn’t wake up for a week – so I must have been tired.”
Kieran’s parents have been joined by other family members to sit by his side in The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.
Kieran’s aunt, Kirsty Bateman, took him to Darlington Memorial Hospital on April 29 when he began to complain of headaches and sickness only two hours after he returned from the Denes play park.
Mrs Bateman said: “We were really worried. We did not know what was going to happen.
“He seemed absolutely fine when he came back to my house. My son, Jay, said they were back early because Kieran had hurt his head on a swing, but he was laughing and joking like he always is.”
The family were unaware that Keiran was suffering from bleeding on the brain after he hit his head on the metal support of a swing – an incident that has prompted a police investigation.
Mrs Bateman said: “I kept a close eye on him, then he just started being sick and complained that he was tired.
“We got him straight to the hospital, where he was rushed to the intensive care unit. We were so worried.
“They had to shave his head for the operation to remove the clot, which was half the size of his brain. He has had 77 staples and four stitches – he could have died.”
Despite waking from his coma less than a week ago, and being unable to feel the left side of his body for two days, Kieran is in remarkably good spirits.
He has managed to walk the length of his hospital room with help from his family, and will begin a comprehensive physiotherapy programme as soon as he is able to.
Kieran, who has covered his hospital room with photos of friends and family, said: “It has been really scary and I am upset that I cannot walk, but I am just looking forward to getting better.
“I am really upset about what has happened to me, but I just want to go home now and play with my dogs, Scratch and Chloe.
“I just hope my hair grows back and that I don’t end up bald like my uncle Duane.
“It can be boring in hospital, I just want to get out and see my friends.”
Two girls, aged 15 and 16, have been arrested and bailed until next month on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and public order offences.
Detective Sergeant Jim Cunningham, who is investigating the case, said the quick actions of Kieran’s family saved his life.
He said: “If anybody suffers a head injury, they need to be taken to accident and emergency straight away.
“Even if somebody seems fine. With a head injury, they can deteriorate very quickly.
“Luckily, Keiran’s family spotted the signs and got him to hospital, otherwise this could have been a lot worse.”
source: theadvertiserseries.co.uk
Brain Injury Claims
Leighton Hospital blasted by relative at inquest over misdiagnosis
THE brother of a disabled woman who died of thirst blames Leighton Hospital for her death.
Gillian Duckworth, 51, of Earls Road, Shavington, died after dehydration caused the worst case of pericarditis a pathologist had ever seen.
But coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said other factors played a part in her condition and he couldn't conclude that a lack of care contributed to her death.
Miss Duckworth, who had Down's Syndrome as well as diabetes, kidney problems and a hole in the heart, was admitted to hospital with chest pains on November 23, 2009.
After a series of tests, doctors concluded she’d had a heart attack and treated her accordingly.
But after her death on December 14, 2009, the post-mortem revealed she'd actually suffered from pericarditis, a swelling around the heart, caused by dehydration.
Her brother John Duckworth quizzed consultant cardiologist Dr Salisbury-Trelawni and demanded to know why more hadn't been done to get her drinking fluids.
Dr Joanna Salisbury-Trelawni said: “Gillian got very distressed by most non-familiar people and every time I saw her I reduced her to tears.
“It was very difficult and upsetting to try and deal with her because she found it so distressing.
“I felt I was torturing the poor lady by trying to help her.
“The problem with dehydration was that Gillian didn't like to eat or drink when unfamiliar staff were around.
“She also had a needle phobia and wouldn't let us treat her that way.
“We couldn’t sedate her because her heart condition meant it was extremely high-risk, and made the situation very difficult.”
She also said that although the treatment would have differed if they’d realise she was suffering from pericarditis, their options would've been limited due to her underlying conditions and difficult behaviour.
However, Mr Duckworth said he was also unhappy with the lack of communication from hospital staff.
“I asked to see the consultant several times”, he said. “But she was always busy. Gillian wasn’t able to communicate with doctors because of her condition so it should’ve been very important to be talking to the family.
“I thought that was a huge failure.”
Miss Duckworth spent the last nine days of her life in a Winsford nursing home but was readmitted to Leighton due to her dehydration and she died the following morning.
Mr Rheinburg said: “It's impossible to determine an exact cause of Miss Duckworth's dehydration.
“There's also the problem of how do you force someone in her condition to take on fluids.”
Recording a verdict of death by natural causes, he added: “I'm satisfied that everyone did their best in this very difficult situation.
“It's a tribute to the care of Miss Duckworth by her family that she survived as long as she did with the conditions found at post-mortem.”
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Duckworth said: “I'm a bit disappointed with the verdict but it was what I was expecting. We were very impressed by the coroner and know there are limits to what he can do.
“But to my mind Gillian would still be alive today if it wasn't for the misdiagnosis and lack of communication.
“Gillian was the heart of the family. She was full of fun and at family gatherings she'd be at the centre of it all. She was a great character.”
source: crewechronicle.co.uk
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Error
Gillian Duckworth, 51, of Earls Road, Shavington, died after dehydration caused the worst case of pericarditis a pathologist had ever seen.
But coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said other factors played a part in her condition and he couldn't conclude that a lack of care contributed to her death.
Miss Duckworth, who had Down's Syndrome as well as diabetes, kidney problems and a hole in the heart, was admitted to hospital with chest pains on November 23, 2009.
After a series of tests, doctors concluded she’d had a heart attack and treated her accordingly.
But after her death on December 14, 2009, the post-mortem revealed she'd actually suffered from pericarditis, a swelling around the heart, caused by dehydration.
Her brother John Duckworth quizzed consultant cardiologist Dr Salisbury-Trelawni and demanded to know why more hadn't been done to get her drinking fluids.
Dr Joanna Salisbury-Trelawni said: “Gillian got very distressed by most non-familiar people and every time I saw her I reduced her to tears.
“It was very difficult and upsetting to try and deal with her because she found it so distressing.
“I felt I was torturing the poor lady by trying to help her.
“The problem with dehydration was that Gillian didn't like to eat or drink when unfamiliar staff were around.
“She also had a needle phobia and wouldn't let us treat her that way.
“We couldn’t sedate her because her heart condition meant it was extremely high-risk, and made the situation very difficult.”
She also said that although the treatment would have differed if they’d realise she was suffering from pericarditis, their options would've been limited due to her underlying conditions and difficult behaviour.
However, Mr Duckworth said he was also unhappy with the lack of communication from hospital staff.
“I asked to see the consultant several times”, he said. “But she was always busy. Gillian wasn’t able to communicate with doctors because of her condition so it should’ve been very important to be talking to the family.
“I thought that was a huge failure.”
Miss Duckworth spent the last nine days of her life in a Winsford nursing home but was readmitted to Leighton due to her dehydration and she died the following morning.
Mr Rheinburg said: “It's impossible to determine an exact cause of Miss Duckworth's dehydration.
“There's also the problem of how do you force someone in her condition to take on fluids.”
Recording a verdict of death by natural causes, he added: “I'm satisfied that everyone did their best in this very difficult situation.
“It's a tribute to the care of Miss Duckworth by her family that she survived as long as she did with the conditions found at post-mortem.”
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Duckworth said: “I'm a bit disappointed with the verdict but it was what I was expecting. We were very impressed by the coroner and know there are limits to what he can do.
“But to my mind Gillian would still be alive today if it wasn't for the misdiagnosis and lack of communication.
“Gillian was the heart of the family. She was full of fun and at family gatherings she'd be at the centre of it all. She was a great character.”
source: crewechronicle.co.uk
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Error
Firm fined after death on combine harvester
A FARMWORKER was killed at work because his employers had failed to take safety into account.
Edward Pybus, 21, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was electrocuted as he worked on a combine harvester in a Wiltshire field nearly four years ago.
Yesterday, farming company Velcourt Ltd was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay a further £45,000 in costs after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Velcourt, based in Herefordshire, was responsible for recruiting casual workers and managing health and safety on the site at Chute Farm, near Ludgershall.
source: the advertiserseries.co.uk
Machinery Claims
Yorkshire Claims
Wiltshire Claims
Mr Pybus was driving a combine harvester when the accident happened.
While it was cropping, it picked up stones and soil so he stopped the machine to remove them.
However, he was unaware the grain discharge spout was touching an 11,000-volt overhead line – and as he stepped down he received a fatal electric shock.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that Velcourt failed to adequately inspect, monitor, supervise or audit health and safety management at the farm.
They also found there had been a near-miss the previous year when the same combine touched a wire – though this was not reported to managers at the time.
Prosecutor Rupert Lowe told Salisbury Crown Court: “The system was far below the standard which should be expected from an employer in their position – the danger was very high.”
David Travers QC, in mitigation for the firm, said: “We accept that things could have been done differently and should have been done better and these improvements have been made.”
Fining the company, Judge Andrew Barnett said information about the dangers of power lines was freely available and should have been highlighted to the inexperienced combine driver.
Following the hearing, Mr Pybus’ mother, Rachel, said: “It is our hope this judgement will prompt the agricultural industry as a whole to improve working practices and endeavour to make farming safer.
“Edward was a wonderful young man, funny, vibrant, on the brink of his adult life with so many plans, hopes and dreams.
“He was to start a new job after the harvest and was hoping to set up home with his girlfriend. None of us can really believe he is gone.”
Edward Pybus, 21, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was electrocuted as he worked on a combine harvester in a Wiltshire field nearly four years ago.
Yesterday, farming company Velcourt Ltd was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay a further £45,000 in costs after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Velcourt, based in Herefordshire, was responsible for recruiting casual workers and managing health and safety on the site at Chute Farm, near Ludgershall.
source: the advertiserseries.co.uk
Machinery Claims
Yorkshire Claims
Wiltshire Claims
Mr Pybus was driving a combine harvester when the accident happened.
While it was cropping, it picked up stones and soil so he stopped the machine to remove them.
However, he was unaware the grain discharge spout was touching an 11,000-volt overhead line – and as he stepped down he received a fatal electric shock.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that Velcourt failed to adequately inspect, monitor, supervise or audit health and safety management at the farm.
They also found there had been a near-miss the previous year when the same combine touched a wire – though this was not reported to managers at the time.
Prosecutor Rupert Lowe told Salisbury Crown Court: “The system was far below the standard which should be expected from an employer in their position – the danger was very high.”
David Travers QC, in mitigation for the firm, said: “We accept that things could have been done differently and should have been done better and these improvements have been made.”
Fining the company, Judge Andrew Barnett said information about the dangers of power lines was freely available and should have been highlighted to the inexperienced combine driver.
Following the hearing, Mr Pybus’ mother, Rachel, said: “It is our hope this judgement will prompt the agricultural industry as a whole to improve working practices and endeavour to make farming safer.
“Edward was a wonderful young man, funny, vibrant, on the brink of his adult life with so many plans, hopes and dreams.
“He was to start a new job after the harvest and was hoping to set up home with his girlfriend. None of us can really believe he is gone.”
Motorcyclist, 30, seriously injured in accident in Gloucestershire
A MOTORCYCLIST was seriously injured in an accident at Kemble yesterday.
The accident happened at 1.50pm on the A429 between The Firs and Station Road and involved a 30-year-old biker from Wiltshire riding a blue and black Honda motorbike.
The motorcyclist, a 30-year-old man from Lyneham in Wiltshire, was taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol by air ambulance with serious life changing injuries.
Officers investigating the collision are eager to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident that hasn’t yet made contact with the police.
You can report information to Gloucestershire Police on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident number 241 of May 17.
You can also give information anonymously by contacting the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org
The road was closed for around two and a half hours whilst the emergency services worked at the scene.
source: thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
The accident happened at 1.50pm on the A429 between The Firs and Station Road and involved a 30-year-old biker from Wiltshire riding a blue and black Honda motorbike.
The motorcyclist, a 30-year-old man from Lyneham in Wiltshire, was taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol by air ambulance with serious life changing injuries.
Officers investigating the collision are eager to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident that hasn’t yet made contact with the police.
You can report information to Gloucestershire Police on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident number 241 of May 17.
You can also give information anonymously by contacting the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org
The road was closed for around two and a half hours whilst the emergency services worked at the scene.
source: thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
Lawyers demand pause in legal aid reforms
Lawyers have called for a pause in the government's legal aid reforms, saying they will leave the most vulnerable without access to justice.
Echoing pleas from the medical profession that have temporarily halted NHS reform, the Law Society has launched a strident attack on the Ministry of Justice's plans to remove half a million cases a year from entitlement to funding for divorce, child maintenance, clinical negligence and welfare cases.
The largest professional body of UK lawyers claimed the coalition government is disregarding official consultation exercises.
In a letter to the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, seen by the Guardian, the president of the Law Society, Linda Lee, declared: "The government's proposals amount to a fundamental reshaping of the legal aid scheme, with many areas of law where services are provided to the most vulnerable, being completely removed from scope.
"We fear that the haste in which the proposals were drafted has meant that many issues with far-reaching impacts on members of the public and the justice system have not been considered."
Cuts in legal aid will merely shift responsibility between departments and impose far higher costs on other arms of government, Lee cautions. Allowing funding for family cases only where domestic violence is involved will act as "a perverse incentive" for false claims, she added. "This policy … needs to be paused, while the potential effects are properly analysed."
Additional proposals from the MoJ to alter "no win, no fee" agreements, so claimants have to pay their own lawyers' success fees, will also make it far harder for victims to bring claims, the Law Society said.
Des Hudson, its chief executive, argued the reforms will place insurance firms at "the heart of the civil justice system". He alleged: "These proposals will cause rejoicing in the boardrooms of insurance companies."
In a sign that the issue could follow NHS reforms by causing difficulties within the coalition, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert, has urged the government to "consider alternative proposals on legal aid to avoid a damaging effect on a number of vulnerable groups".
He said: "One of the basic pillars of our legal system is supposed to be that the law is accessible to all, not just those who can afford it. The government's proposals may have damaging effects on a number of vulnerable groups [including] women, asylum seekers, children and young people, all of whom are at risk of losing access to justice when they are often the people who need it most."
Other areas that will be severely affected by cuts to legal aid include housing, education and consumer rights.
Initially hesitant about campaigning against the coalition's plans to slice £350m million from the legal aid budget for fear that opposition will be portrayed as solicitors protecting their own incomes, the Law Society has decided to speak out.
Taxis emblazoned with the "Sound Off for Justice" logo, which is backed by the Law Society, have been touring London streets this week recording passengers' opinions in mobile sound booths about the threat of cuts to legal aid.
While the MoJ's impact assessment last autumn suggested 500,000 fewer cases would be entitled to funding, the Legal Action Group estimates the figure could be far higher, with as many as 650,000 removed from access to legal aid.
Reform of "no win, no fee" agreements proposed by Clarke would discourage lawyers from taking up public interest cases, it is claimed. "The litigation around Trafigura [which first highlighted the use of superinjunctions] would not have happened under the proposed changes," said Mark Stobbs, the Law Society's director of legal policy.
"In future if you are found to have acted 'unreasonably' as a claimant – and that might be as simple as refusing to accept an offer of settlement you disagreed with – then you couldn't guarantee that you couldn't lose your house [through liability for costs].
"Victims will get less for their injuries. The insurance companies will make extra profits and there's no example of insurance companies reducing their premiums."
The UK's legal industry, with an annual turnover of £18bn, could be severely damaged, the society claims. It has offered the government an alternative programme for saving £384m through reducing unnecessary court hearings and other efficiencies.
"We agree that there should be fewer cases," said Martin Heskins, policy adviser at the Law Society. "We are not being listened to. The government doesn't have the political will to address the root causes of costs in the legal system."
Only 5% of lawyers now rely on legal aid; the average salary of a legal aid lawyer is £25,000. "We would also like to see no individual lawyer making more than £250,000 a year from legal aid," Heskins added – a proposal unlikely to be welcomed by some senior barristers.
A reduction in legal aid is likely to lead to a surge in individuals taking their own cases to court because they cannot afford legal representation or advice, the society fears. Earlier this year the Judges' Council, which represents the judiciary, warned that an increase in "litigants in person" triggered by legal aid cuts would clog up the courts, imposing greater strains and costs on the system.
On Thursday the House of Lords will debate cuts to civil legal aid. The MoJ is expected to publish its legal aid bill early next month.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers dismissed the Law Society's criticism. "We are not rejoicing," he said, "but we are certainly supportive of the government's proposals. Motorists, who are paying an extra 10% on their motor insurance as a result of high legal costs in settling personal injury claims, can look forward to cheaper insurance in the future.
"We are not going to profit from this. We want genuine claimants to profit from this. We don't want to hinder access to justice."
source: guardian.co.uk
Personal Injury Claims
Medical Negligence Claims
Echoing pleas from the medical profession that have temporarily halted NHS reform, the Law Society has launched a strident attack on the Ministry of Justice's plans to remove half a million cases a year from entitlement to funding for divorce, child maintenance, clinical negligence and welfare cases.
The largest professional body of UK lawyers claimed the coalition government is disregarding official consultation exercises.
In a letter to the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, seen by the Guardian, the president of the Law Society, Linda Lee, declared: "The government's proposals amount to a fundamental reshaping of the legal aid scheme, with many areas of law where services are provided to the most vulnerable, being completely removed from scope.
"We fear that the haste in which the proposals were drafted has meant that many issues with far-reaching impacts on members of the public and the justice system have not been considered."
Cuts in legal aid will merely shift responsibility between departments and impose far higher costs on other arms of government, Lee cautions. Allowing funding for family cases only where domestic violence is involved will act as "a perverse incentive" for false claims, she added. "This policy … needs to be paused, while the potential effects are properly analysed."
Additional proposals from the MoJ to alter "no win, no fee" agreements, so claimants have to pay their own lawyers' success fees, will also make it far harder for victims to bring claims, the Law Society said.
Des Hudson, its chief executive, argued the reforms will place insurance firms at "the heart of the civil justice system". He alleged: "These proposals will cause rejoicing in the boardrooms of insurance companies."
In a sign that the issue could follow NHS reforms by causing difficulties within the coalition, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert, has urged the government to "consider alternative proposals on legal aid to avoid a damaging effect on a number of vulnerable groups".
He said: "One of the basic pillars of our legal system is supposed to be that the law is accessible to all, not just those who can afford it. The government's proposals may have damaging effects on a number of vulnerable groups [including] women, asylum seekers, children and young people, all of whom are at risk of losing access to justice when they are often the people who need it most."
Other areas that will be severely affected by cuts to legal aid include housing, education and consumer rights.
Initially hesitant about campaigning against the coalition's plans to slice £350m million from the legal aid budget for fear that opposition will be portrayed as solicitors protecting their own incomes, the Law Society has decided to speak out.
Taxis emblazoned with the "Sound Off for Justice" logo, which is backed by the Law Society, have been touring London streets this week recording passengers' opinions in mobile sound booths about the threat of cuts to legal aid.
While the MoJ's impact assessment last autumn suggested 500,000 fewer cases would be entitled to funding, the Legal Action Group estimates the figure could be far higher, with as many as 650,000 removed from access to legal aid.
Reform of "no win, no fee" agreements proposed by Clarke would discourage lawyers from taking up public interest cases, it is claimed. "The litigation around Trafigura [which first highlighted the use of superinjunctions] would not have happened under the proposed changes," said Mark Stobbs, the Law Society's director of legal policy.
"In future if you are found to have acted 'unreasonably' as a claimant – and that might be as simple as refusing to accept an offer of settlement you disagreed with – then you couldn't guarantee that you couldn't lose your house [through liability for costs].
"Victims will get less for their injuries. The insurance companies will make extra profits and there's no example of insurance companies reducing their premiums."
The UK's legal industry, with an annual turnover of £18bn, could be severely damaged, the society claims. It has offered the government an alternative programme for saving £384m through reducing unnecessary court hearings and other efficiencies.
"We agree that there should be fewer cases," said Martin Heskins, policy adviser at the Law Society. "We are not being listened to. The government doesn't have the political will to address the root causes of costs in the legal system."
Only 5% of lawyers now rely on legal aid; the average salary of a legal aid lawyer is £25,000. "We would also like to see no individual lawyer making more than £250,000 a year from legal aid," Heskins added – a proposal unlikely to be welcomed by some senior barristers.
A reduction in legal aid is likely to lead to a surge in individuals taking their own cases to court because they cannot afford legal representation or advice, the society fears. Earlier this year the Judges' Council, which represents the judiciary, warned that an increase in "litigants in person" triggered by legal aid cuts would clog up the courts, imposing greater strains and costs on the system.
On Thursday the House of Lords will debate cuts to civil legal aid. The MoJ is expected to publish its legal aid bill early next month.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers dismissed the Law Society's criticism. "We are not rejoicing," he said, "but we are certainly supportive of the government's proposals. Motorists, who are paying an extra 10% on their motor insurance as a result of high legal costs in settling personal injury claims, can look forward to cheaper insurance in the future.
"We are not going to profit from this. We want genuine claimants to profit from this. We don't want to hinder access to justice."
source: guardian.co.uk
Personal Injury Claims
Medical Negligence Claims
Monday 16 May 2011
Wear a cycling helmet or 'let the wind blow in your hair'? Experts say...it's a no brainer
It would seem obvious: wearing a helmet while cycling will protect your head from injury should you fall off.
Not so, according to Norman Baker MP.
Last month the Junior Transport Minister – who is in charge of cycling policy in Britain – defended his decision not to wear a helmet, saying: ‘We encourage children to wear them but adults are capable of making up their own minds.’
He also cast doubt over whether helmets, which are filled with hard foam designed to absorb the shock of a head impact by distributing the force, made bicycle use on the road any safer at all.
‘I like to feel the wind in my hair,’ added Mr Baker, who is balding.
The comments caused uproar – with cycling organisations, brain injury charities and medics queuing up to correct the Minister.
There are more than ten million regular cyclists in Britain, yet figures suggest that only 16 per cent wear helmets.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, a one-time bicycle commuter, sometimes remembers to wear one.
London Mayor Boris Johnson still seems unwilling to don one.
The most recent data from the Department for Transport shows that in 2009, 104 cyclists were killed on the roads and 2,606 seriously injured and there were more than 14,000 reported minor injuries.
According to independent organisation Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), about 40 per cent of cyclists admitted to hospital in England have head injuries.
In 2009 TRL conducted a review that concluded that helmets are effective at preventing head and brain injuries – especially if there isn’t another vehicle involved.
It concluded that between ten and 16 per cent of the fatalities could have been prevented by wearing an appropriate helmet.
A review of research from the UK, Australia and America suggests that cycle helmets decrease the risk of head and brain injury by up to 88 per cent.
But helmets won’t prevent all injury and it is this that the anti-helmet lobby has seized on.
‘If you are hit by a car at 40 mph, your helmet is useless,’ says Colin Shieff, consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
‘However, if you fall off your bike, you are still at risk of significant injury when your head hits the ground – this is where a helmet may protect you.’
Cycling head injuries broadly fall into two categories: direct injuries, where the head makes impact with another object, and rotational injuries, sustained when the head is twisted.
The latter are more likely to cause death or chronic brain damage.
A helmet is unlikely to protect the head in such cases. In terms of blood and broken bones, a bang on the head may seem undramatic.
However, Shieff says: ‘You may disrupt the jelly-like substance that is the brain, causing widespread dots of haemorrhage and torn nerve cells.
'Such damage could cause life-long problems with mobility, memory and intellect.’
Shieff feels helmets are crucial. But not everyone agrees.
‘We aren’t against helmets, but we believe their efficacy is limited and that wearing them may be counter-productive,’ says Roger Geffen, campaigns and policy director of CTC, the UK’s national cyclists’ association.
‘If you’re caught lightly on the side of the head you may simply sustain a graze,’ says Geffen.
‘If you are wearing a helmet, your whole head could be spun round. Spine and neck injuries may also be very serious.’
Despite this, TRL’s 2009 report found no evidence to suggest that wearing a helmet increased risk of rotational head injury.
Some studies have suggested that people will be put off cycling if forced to wear helmets.
‘Long term there are going to be a lot more people dying from obesity-related conditions if you effectively discourage such exercise,’ points out Geffen.
A poll of 4,000 people was conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists last month.
Ten per cent said they’d give up cycling if helmets became law.
One thing most experts agree on is that cyclists should seek out properly fitting, well-made protection.
‘Always look for the European standard mark EN 1078, or EN 1080 for younger children,’ says Dr Bryan Chinn, director of a helmet and head injury consultancy.
Dr Chinn also stresses the importance that the helmet fits.
‘In the event of impact, you don’t want it to move at all,’ he says.
He also recommends that you do up the chin straps as tightly as possible and use a helmet covering the temples.
The last Which? report about cycle helmets, in 2005, did suggest that some helmets are superior.
Some of the top-rated brands – Canyon, Giro, Trek and Specialized – are all widely available in the UK.
There is no law that dictates cyclists must wear a helmet, so it remains your choice.
But brain injury association Headway spokesman Luke Griggs offers a final thought: ‘A number of Headway members sustained their injuries through cycling accidents.
'They are now spending the rest of their lives wishing they’d chosen to wear a helmet.’
source: dailymail.co.uk
Head Injury Claims
Not so, according to Norman Baker MP.
Last month the Junior Transport Minister – who is in charge of cycling policy in Britain – defended his decision not to wear a helmet, saying: ‘We encourage children to wear them but adults are capable of making up their own minds.’
He also cast doubt over whether helmets, which are filled with hard foam designed to absorb the shock of a head impact by distributing the force, made bicycle use on the road any safer at all.
‘I like to feel the wind in my hair,’ added Mr Baker, who is balding.
The comments caused uproar – with cycling organisations, brain injury charities and medics queuing up to correct the Minister.
There are more than ten million regular cyclists in Britain, yet figures suggest that only 16 per cent wear helmets.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, a one-time bicycle commuter, sometimes remembers to wear one.
London Mayor Boris Johnson still seems unwilling to don one.
The most recent data from the Department for Transport shows that in 2009, 104 cyclists were killed on the roads and 2,606 seriously injured and there were more than 14,000 reported minor injuries.
According to independent organisation Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), about 40 per cent of cyclists admitted to hospital in England have head injuries.
In 2009 TRL conducted a review that concluded that helmets are effective at preventing head and brain injuries – especially if there isn’t another vehicle involved.
It concluded that between ten and 16 per cent of the fatalities could have been prevented by wearing an appropriate helmet.
A review of research from the UK, Australia and America suggests that cycle helmets decrease the risk of head and brain injury by up to 88 per cent.
But helmets won’t prevent all injury and it is this that the anti-helmet lobby has seized on.
‘If you are hit by a car at 40 mph, your helmet is useless,’ says Colin Shieff, consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
‘However, if you fall off your bike, you are still at risk of significant injury when your head hits the ground – this is where a helmet may protect you.’
Cycling head injuries broadly fall into two categories: direct injuries, where the head makes impact with another object, and rotational injuries, sustained when the head is twisted.
The latter are more likely to cause death or chronic brain damage.
A helmet is unlikely to protect the head in such cases. In terms of blood and broken bones, a bang on the head may seem undramatic.
However, Shieff says: ‘You may disrupt the jelly-like substance that is the brain, causing widespread dots of haemorrhage and torn nerve cells.
'Such damage could cause life-long problems with mobility, memory and intellect.’
Shieff feels helmets are crucial. But not everyone agrees.
‘We aren’t against helmets, but we believe their efficacy is limited and that wearing them may be counter-productive,’ says Roger Geffen, campaigns and policy director of CTC, the UK’s national cyclists’ association.
‘If you’re caught lightly on the side of the head you may simply sustain a graze,’ says Geffen.
‘If you are wearing a helmet, your whole head could be spun round. Spine and neck injuries may also be very serious.’
Despite this, TRL’s 2009 report found no evidence to suggest that wearing a helmet increased risk of rotational head injury.
Some studies have suggested that people will be put off cycling if forced to wear helmets.
‘Long term there are going to be a lot more people dying from obesity-related conditions if you effectively discourage such exercise,’ points out Geffen.
A poll of 4,000 people was conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists last month.
Ten per cent said they’d give up cycling if helmets became law.
One thing most experts agree on is that cyclists should seek out properly fitting, well-made protection.
‘Always look for the European standard mark EN 1078, or EN 1080 for younger children,’ says Dr Bryan Chinn, director of a helmet and head injury consultancy.
Dr Chinn also stresses the importance that the helmet fits.
‘In the event of impact, you don’t want it to move at all,’ he says.
He also recommends that you do up the chin straps as tightly as possible and use a helmet covering the temples.
The last Which? report about cycle helmets, in 2005, did suggest that some helmets are superior.
Some of the top-rated brands – Canyon, Giro, Trek and Specialized – are all widely available in the UK.
There is no law that dictates cyclists must wear a helmet, so it remains your choice.
But brain injury association Headway spokesman Luke Griggs offers a final thought: ‘A number of Headway members sustained their injuries through cycling accidents.
'They are now spending the rest of their lives wishing they’d chosen to wear a helmet.’
source: dailymail.co.uk
Head Injury Claims
Ban mobile phones and wi-fi from schools 'as they are potentially harmful'
Mobile phones and wireless internet should be banned from schools because they pose too great a risk to children’s health, a controversial study has warned.
The stark claims go against the overwhelming body of existing research, which suggests such devices are perfectly safe.
But an influential Council of Europe committee said that electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobiles, computers with wi-fi internet connections and even baby monitors could cause cancer and impair brain development.
The experts warned that European countries should consider banning mobile phones and wireless internet networks from classrooms as they have ‘potentially harmful’ effects.
In its report, the committee referred to mistakes that were made in the past when public health bodies were too slow to acknowledge the risks of exposure to asbestos, leaded petrol and tobacco smoke.
It also suggested that certain ‘at risk’ items should be labelled with health warnings reminding the public of their dangers.
The Council’s Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs has drawn up a draft resolution urging governments to ‘take all reasonable measures to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields’ from mobile phones and similar devices.
It wants countries to run campaigns geared towards children and teenagers warning them of mobile phone dangers.
And it also demands that more research is carried out on less harmful technology.
But its warning over health risks goes against recent advice from the Department of Health and the World Health Organisation, which suggests there is no significant danger to the public.
Earlier this year official statistics analysed by scientists at Manchester University showed that using mobile phones did not increase the risk of cancer.
And a report from Britain’s Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme in 2007 said that there was no association between mobile phones and adverse health effects. The Council of Europe includes representatives from almost all European countries and is principally concerned with upholding human rights and democracy.
Experts were last night sceptical of the committee’s warning.
Professor Les Barclay, vice-chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme, said: ‘We haven’t had mobile phones for very long and there are now studies going on to look for longer-term effects.
‘There is very little evidence at the moment for harmful effects. The powers that mobile phones emit are getting less and less, and they are well below the limits set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.
‘Banning mobile phones and wireless networks in schools is a step too far in my eyes.’
The Department of Health said: ‘As you would expect, we keep all available scientific evidence under review. Our guidance remains the same. Children should use mobile phones only for essential purposes and keep all calls short.’
source: dailymail.co.uk
Cancer Claims
The stark claims go against the overwhelming body of existing research, which suggests such devices are perfectly safe.
But an influential Council of Europe committee said that electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobiles, computers with wi-fi internet connections and even baby monitors could cause cancer and impair brain development.
The experts warned that European countries should consider banning mobile phones and wireless internet networks from classrooms as they have ‘potentially harmful’ effects.
In its report, the committee referred to mistakes that were made in the past when public health bodies were too slow to acknowledge the risks of exposure to asbestos, leaded petrol and tobacco smoke.
It also suggested that certain ‘at risk’ items should be labelled with health warnings reminding the public of their dangers.
The Council’s Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs has drawn up a draft resolution urging governments to ‘take all reasonable measures to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields’ from mobile phones and similar devices.
It wants countries to run campaigns geared towards children and teenagers warning them of mobile phone dangers.
And it also demands that more research is carried out on less harmful technology.
But its warning over health risks goes against recent advice from the Department of Health and the World Health Organisation, which suggests there is no significant danger to the public.
Earlier this year official statistics analysed by scientists at Manchester University showed that using mobile phones did not increase the risk of cancer.
And a report from Britain’s Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme in 2007 said that there was no association between mobile phones and adverse health effects. The Council of Europe includes representatives from almost all European countries and is principally concerned with upholding human rights and democracy.
Experts were last night sceptical of the committee’s warning.
Professor Les Barclay, vice-chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme, said: ‘We haven’t had mobile phones for very long and there are now studies going on to look for longer-term effects.
‘There is very little evidence at the moment for harmful effects. The powers that mobile phones emit are getting less and less, and they are well below the limits set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.
‘Banning mobile phones and wireless networks in schools is a step too far in my eyes.’
The Department of Health said: ‘As you would expect, we keep all available scientific evidence under review. Our guidance remains the same. Children should use mobile phones only for essential purposes and keep all calls short.’
source: dailymail.co.uk
Cancer Claims
Thursday 12 May 2011
Focus on brain injury - the hidden disability
CHESTER health chiefs are working to raise awareness of people with brain injuries.
Action for Brain Injury Week, which runs until May 15, aims to highlight that every year in Cheshire, one family in every 300 copes with the hidden effects of a brain injury.
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s (CWP) acquired brain injury team treat people across Cheshire who have suffered a brain injury as an adult.
Some injuries happen at home by people falling and hitting their head and some due to illnesses such as meningitis.
Men are two or three times more likely to suffer a brain injury than women.
Gary Baker, a 43-year-old underwriter from Malpas, is still living with the effects of the brain injury he sustained just over a year ago.
He said: “I was rushing to make an appointment when I tripped and fell, hitting my head on the pavement as I landed.
“It is the sound that I remember most vividly; a horrific cracking noise followed by an overwhelming sense of confusion.
“I picked myself up quickly, hoping that no-one had seen me fall, and carried on to my appointment.
“I had no real sense of what had happened to me.”
Gary was approached by two people who came over to Gary’s aid, when one of them told him he was bleeding.
Gary said: “I didn’t believe him until he convinced me to put my hand to the place on my head that hurt the most.
“If it hadn’t been for them I wouldn’t have gone straight to hospital.”
Following the hospital visit Gary began to experience severe drowsiness.
Examinations showed that the impact had caused bruising to the brain and Gary was referred to Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s (CWP) Acquired Brain Injury service.
“I was visited by a consultant neuropsychologist and a specialist vocational occupational therapist from CWP’s Acquired Brain Injury team,” he said.
“I had been getting really scared by things that were happening to me, things like crying uncontrollably for no apparent reason.
“The staff were great, explained everything about my condition to me and reassured me that I was experiencing normal symptoms.
“I suffered some real low points throughout my recovery and sometimes felt like I didn’t want to carry on anymore.
“The team would always pick me back up.”
Bernie Walsh, a clinical specialist on CWP’s acquired brain injury team, said: “The Acquired Brain Injury service is responsive to the client’s and family’s needs.
“Having a brain injury can impact on all aspects of your life including relationships at home, in public and at work.
“Gary’s partner was invited to some of his therapy sessions to discuss how the injury might affect behaviour and moods and how other people might act towards him and why.”
Bernie continued: “An acquired brain injury is a hidden disability that affects not only the client but family and friends as well.
“Although Gary’s injury did not require hospital admission, the impact of his injury on his daily life, his relationships and his work required timely, positive, practical and psychological support from our service.”
Gary said: “People were not sure how to treat me because there were no obvious signs of anything being wrong with me.
“It was important for me that they understood that I could suffer sudden bouts of tiredness, and that I wasn’t just being difficult or lazy.”
While most of the symptoms and effects of Gary’s brain injury have now subsided, he said that he may never be the same person he was before.
“My energy levels still aren’t what they were.
“I suffer from tiredness more chronically and frequently than I did before the accident and I find it very difficult to keep my emotions in check.
“I am one of the lucky ones though.”
Gary has now returned back to work and is able to live a relatively normal life.
He added: “I seem to be more organised now than I was – that’s probably not a bad thing given what happened the last time I was in a rush.”
source: chesterfirst.co.uk
Brain Injury Claims
Action for Brain Injury Week, which runs until May 15, aims to highlight that every year in Cheshire, one family in every 300 copes with the hidden effects of a brain injury.
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s (CWP) acquired brain injury team treat people across Cheshire who have suffered a brain injury as an adult.
Some injuries happen at home by people falling and hitting their head and some due to illnesses such as meningitis.
Men are two or three times more likely to suffer a brain injury than women.
Gary Baker, a 43-year-old underwriter from Malpas, is still living with the effects of the brain injury he sustained just over a year ago.
He said: “I was rushing to make an appointment when I tripped and fell, hitting my head on the pavement as I landed.
“It is the sound that I remember most vividly; a horrific cracking noise followed by an overwhelming sense of confusion.
“I picked myself up quickly, hoping that no-one had seen me fall, and carried on to my appointment.
“I had no real sense of what had happened to me.”
Gary was approached by two people who came over to Gary’s aid, when one of them told him he was bleeding.
Gary said: “I didn’t believe him until he convinced me to put my hand to the place on my head that hurt the most.
“If it hadn’t been for them I wouldn’t have gone straight to hospital.”
Following the hospital visit Gary began to experience severe drowsiness.
Examinations showed that the impact had caused bruising to the brain and Gary was referred to Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s (CWP) Acquired Brain Injury service.
“I was visited by a consultant neuropsychologist and a specialist vocational occupational therapist from CWP’s Acquired Brain Injury team,” he said.
“I had been getting really scared by things that were happening to me, things like crying uncontrollably for no apparent reason.
“The staff were great, explained everything about my condition to me and reassured me that I was experiencing normal symptoms.
“I suffered some real low points throughout my recovery and sometimes felt like I didn’t want to carry on anymore.
“The team would always pick me back up.”
Bernie Walsh, a clinical specialist on CWP’s acquired brain injury team, said: “The Acquired Brain Injury service is responsive to the client’s and family’s needs.
“Having a brain injury can impact on all aspects of your life including relationships at home, in public and at work.
“Gary’s partner was invited to some of his therapy sessions to discuss how the injury might affect behaviour and moods and how other people might act towards him and why.”
Bernie continued: “An acquired brain injury is a hidden disability that affects not only the client but family and friends as well.
“Although Gary’s injury did not require hospital admission, the impact of his injury on his daily life, his relationships and his work required timely, positive, practical and psychological support from our service.”
Gary said: “People were not sure how to treat me because there were no obvious signs of anything being wrong with me.
“It was important for me that they understood that I could suffer sudden bouts of tiredness, and that I wasn’t just being difficult or lazy.”
While most of the symptoms and effects of Gary’s brain injury have now subsided, he said that he may never be the same person he was before.
“My energy levels still aren’t what they were.
“I suffer from tiredness more chronically and frequently than I did before the accident and I find it very difficult to keep my emotions in check.
“I am one of the lucky ones though.”
Gary has now returned back to work and is able to live a relatively normal life.
He added: “I seem to be more organised now than I was – that’s probably not a bad thing given what happened the last time I was in a rush.”
source: chesterfirst.co.uk
Brain Injury Claims
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