Whiplash

Whiplash is a sudden movement/jolt to the body or head. Whiplash is notoriously known as being the most common injury that you can sustain after suffering from a road traffic accident.

Although road traffic accidents are the most common cause of whiplash there are several other ways that whiplash can be caused such as a blow to the head or through repetitive movements of the neck.

Whiplash causes pain and stiffness as well as a loss of movement. This is due to the fact that whiplash causes damage to the ligaments and tendons in your neck and head. Other symptoms associated with whiplash include headaches, muscle spasms and pain in your shoulders and arms. These symptoms usually appear within the first couple of days after, for example, a road traffic accident.

So how is whiplash diagnosed? The diagnosis of whiplash relies mainly on the information that is provided to a GP from the patient, such as the events leading up to the symptoms appearing and the patient’s description of the symptoms. Whiplash is the type of injury that doesn’t appear on MRI scans, CT scans or x-rays, however an x-ray is likely to be taken for nothing else but to remove any suspicion of a fracture or dislocation of the cervical spine. So the diagnosis of the condition is one that is made by your GP based on their knowledge of the condition and the symptoms that you are experiencing.

If you are suffering the symptoms of whiplash then in the first 24 hours of it appearing you should apply an ice pack to your neck as a way of relieving inflammation. This ice pack should be wrapped in a towel, never apply it directly to the skin, and it should be placed on the affected area in 20 minute intervals. As well as this you should be taking regular painkillers. If these painkillers however fail to have any affect it is important that you visit your doctor in order to get stronger painkillers or to find a better way of dealing with the problem.

The symptoms of whiplash usually clear up within a few days but there are cases where people may end up suffering for years after the initial accident happened.

If you are currently suffering from whiplash or you have suffered from it in the past three years then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation. You can claim compensation for your injuries, suffering, medical expenses and any loss of earnings that you are experiencing while you are out of work waiting for you injuries to heal. Anyone can make a claim for compensation as long as your injuries are affecting your daily life and you can prove that the accident was caused through the negligence of another person.

Slip and Trip

Property owners, landlords and councils have a responsibility to ensure that their premises are safe. This means they have to ensure paving isn’t loose, spills are cleaned up and adequate lighting is in place as well as using reasonable care to keep their property safe. Sadly responsible parties don’t always take the responsibility that they should.

Pretty much all of us have slipped or tripped while we have been out at the shops, in work or walking on the pavement etc. In some cases these slip or trip accidents are caused by not looking where you are going but if you have been injured in a slip/trip accident through the fault of someone else’s negligence then you could have a chance to make a claim for compensation.

It is the duty of property owners to make sure that their building is free from obstructions or spillages that could lead to you having a slip, trip or fall accident. Due to this the floor in a workplace must be suitable for the type of work activity that will be taking place on it. Where a floor can’t be kept dry people should be able to walk on it without the fear of a slip; so how can this happen? Simple you need to ensure that the flooring that is present in your property has a certain degree of roughness to it, this is important as it will provide a grip so that even if the floor is wet you will still have an aspect of safety to protect you.

The flooring in a public building should also be cleaned correctly to ensure that it does not become slippery and that it keeps its slip resistance properties. Your flooring should also be fitted correctly and any potential hazards should be removed.

It doesn’t matter how old or new your flooring is, whatever its age all flooring should be maintained so that it is keep in a good condition. Maintenance of flooring includes making sure that any trip hazards, such as holes, uneven surfaces and curled up carpet edges are taken care of. If you do have uneven flooring that can’t be avoided, such as ramps and raised platforms then these should be clearly highlighted and signposted.

Floors are just one aspect that can cause you to have a slip, trip or fall accident. Another common cause of slip, trips and falls are uneven pavements. If a pavement slab comes loose and is sticking up, causing the possibility of tripping then it is up to the local council to make sure that this paving slab is fixed in a timely manner before any injury is caused.

One last cause of slip, trip and fall accidents are stair cases. Stair cases, both internal and external ones should have high visibility and non-slip square nosing on the step edges. They should also be provided with a suitable handrail and the steps should be correctly proportioned, meaning they are equal in height and width.

If you have suffered injury due to a slip, trip or fall accident then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Road Traffic Accidents

More people are injured and killed on Britain’s roads every year than through any other form of personal injury. You can be involved in a road traffic accident regardless of whether you are a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist and the injuries that you can sustain as a result of it vary in degree from relatively minor to catastrophic or even fatal.

Nearly half a million people are injured or killed on our roads every year. In order to help reduce the amount of accidents and injuries that occur each year on the roads we all owe each other a duty of care. This comes regardless of whether you are a driver, motorcyclist, pedestrian etc; whatever you use the road as you should do so in compliance with the Highway Code.

One of the most common injuries associated with road traffic accidents is whiplash. Other forms of injuries that you may suffer as the result of a road traffic accident includes broken or fractured bones, torn ligaments, head or neck trauma and even spinal cord damage. Whatever injury you are suffering from as the result of a road traffic accident you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation; this is as long as you can prove that the accident was caused through no fault of your own.

There are certain aspects that need to be looked at when it comes to road traffic accidents such as driver behaviour, road conditions and the state of the vehicle at the time of the accident. All of these will be used as proof that the accident occurred through no fault of your own.

Whether a road traffic accident was your fault or not it is important that you stop at the scene so that you can exchange insurance details and inform the police as well as an ambulance if anyone is seriously injured. Even if you are not seriously injured it is a good idea that you visit your doctor, even if your injuries seem minor. This way you will have a medical record of your accident and any injuries that you sustained as a result of it. Also some injuries that you may be suffering from might not show up straight away, which is why it is a good idea to have tests done to rule out any major illnesses.

If you have become the victim of a road traffic accident in the last three years then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Passenger Accidents

As a passenger of a vehicle it is very unlikely that you would be at fault if a road traffic accident occurred but sadly innocent passengers are often injured during road traffic accidents.

Unfortunately there are a large number of road traffic accidents each year in the UK, and although safety cameras have helped to reduce the number of incidents they sadly still happen. In a road traffic accident there are many people who could end up injured such as the driver of a car, a pedestrian, a cyclist or a motorcyclist and of course passengers.

There are numerous ways in which a passenger could end up involved in a road traffic accident; the most common way of course is if they are the passenger of a car. While it is possible for anybody inside a car to be harmed during a car accident, it is more likely that front seat passengers will suffer significant injuries. As well as this you may be injured as a passenger if you are travelling on a bus, coach or taxi as well as a train that is involved in a crash. Whatever form of transport you are travelling on, if it is involved in a crash and you are injured as the passenger of that car then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

If you are a passenger of a car or a mode of public transport that is involved in a road traffic accident then you are in a strong legal position to make a claim for compensation. This is because the driver of a vehicle has a duty of care to ensure your safety and if this duty is breeched and you are injured as the result of it then you can make a claim for compensation.

In a successful compensation claim the amount of compensation that you will receive varies on the extent of your injuries and by the length of time that you have been affected by them. You will also receive compensation based on any medical expenses that you have encountered and any loss of earnings that you have suffered as the result of being out of work whilst your injuries are healing.

Head Injuries

Head injuries have the potential to cause damage to your scalp, skull or brain. These injuries can range from being minor, major or life threatening. Some of the main causes of head injuries are road traffic accidents, falls, work place accidents, assaults and sports related injuries as well as accidents in public places. Due to this you should always be aware of potential dangers and wear the correct protective headgear when you are using bicycles or motorbikes as well as when playing contact sports or undertaking construction work.

The symptoms that you will be suffering from with a head injury vary greatly depending on the severity of the injury; however the main symptoms that you will be dealing with when it comes to a head injury are the following:

• Headache with nausea and vomiting
• Blurred or double vision
• Slurred speech
• Confusion or drowsiness
• Loss of consciousness
• Blood or clear fluid from the ears or nose

It is said that one million people each year in the UK need emergency medical care as the result of a head injury and about one in four people who are suffering from a head injury need to be admitted to hospital.

The treatment that you will receive for a head injury depends on the type and severity of the injury that you are suffering from. This may include observation at home or in hospital, first aid treatment i.e. stitching of wounds and medication such as painkillers, corticosteroids and antibiotics

One thing that is certain when it comes to head injuries; you should always visit a hospital or your doctor. Whether you have a minor or major head injury it is important as you could have underlying problems that will only be picked up when you have tests done. Also by seeing your doctor you will have a medical record of your injuries so that if you wish to make a claim for compensation you will have the backing of your doctor.

Some examples of the head injuries that you may be suffering from are concussion, epidural haematoma, subdural haematoma and cerebral contusion as well as diffuse axonal injury.

If you are suffering from a head injury, whether it is minor or major then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Asbestos Claims

Asbestos was extensively used as a building material in Great Britain from the 1950’s through to the mid 1980’s. Its main purpose was to be used as insulation. Any type of building built before 2000 has the chance of containing asbestos; if however the asbestos is in good condition you are safe, it is when the fibres of asbestos become airborne then you have to worry; this happens when the asbestos becomes damaged.

Asbestos fibres continue to be present everywhere in the environment in Great Britain, meaning that everyone is constantly exposed to very low levels of fibres, but this is nothing to worry about; the risk of developing an asbestos related disease comes down to the total number of fibres that you breathe in. Working on or near damaged asbestos-containing materials or breathing in high levels of asbestos fibres, which may be many hundreds of times that of environmental levels could increase your chances of getting an asbestos-related disease.

Inhaling these fibres can cause serious diseases, which are responsible for around 4000 deaths a year. There are three main diseases caused by asbestos: mesothelioma (which is always fatal), lung cancer (almost always fatal) and asbestosis (not always fatal, but it can be very debilitating).

It is important to remember that you won’t be affected straight away by an asbestos related disease but you will be later on in life, which is why it is important that you protect yourself now against the damage caused by asbestos.

Some examples of the types of occupations that are most at risk from an asbestos related illness are as follows:

• Heating and ventilation engineers
• Demolition workers
• Carpenters and joiners
• Construction workers
• Electricians

If you are informed by your doctor or consultant that you have an asbestos related illness then it is important that you obtain specialist legal advice as soon as possible as you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. You will be able to make a claim for compensation if your employer failed in their duty of care to protect you against the harmful effects of asbestos. Your employer should find out if you are working with or near asbestos and if you are they should make sure that you receive the correct training and that you are properly supervised. You should also be provided with the correct equipment and safety wear. Failure to do this can leave your employer open to liability cases and means that you are able to make a claim for compensation.

Normally the time limit for making a compensation claim is three years but in the case of asbestos this three year time limit starts from when you are diagnosed with an asbestos related illness.

If you are hoping to make a compensation claim regarding asbestos related diseases then you have to show that your employer was aware of the dangers of asbestos and failed to provide you with adequate warnings and protection against it.

Accidents at work

All employers have a responsibility to protect their employees, contractors and visitors from accidents and injury in the workplace.

It is estimated that one million people suffer injury in the workplace every year and the vast majority of these are generally avoidable. Even with huge improvements in health and safety and an increasing list of safety rules/measures many workplace environments remain dangerous.

Employers should carry out risk assessments of the workplace to ensure that any measures to improve safety are being used. Even without these risk assessments there are still a number of precautions that need to be present in the workplace such as your employees should be provided with the correct safety wear, which includes goggles, hard hats, ear defenders, gloves, boots and high visibility jackets. As well as being provided with the correct safety wear, employees should also have the correct machinery and tools that they need to carry out their job. These tools and machinery should be checked regularly to ensure that they are in the best condition to carry out work.

If you unfortunately do suffer from an accident at work, you need to report it to your employers as soon as possible and make sure that the accident is recorded in the accident book. If the accident isn’t placed in the accident book or the company doesn’t have an accident book then you should write down brief details of the accident and send it to your boss, as well as keeping a copy for your own reference. If you can't report the accident because you are too ill, try to get someone else to do this.

If the accident involves any of the following:

• Death
• Disease
• Major injury
• Dangerous incidents
• Any injury that stops an employee doing their normal job for three or more days

Then your employer has a responsibility to report the accident not only in the accident book but also to the Health and Safety Executives.

One last procedure that is advised if you have suffered from a work place accident is going to see your doctor. You should do this even if your injury doesn’t seem too serious. The reason why this is so important is so that a doctor can record details of accident in case you wish to pursue a compensation claim later on.

If you are hoping to make a claim for compensation then remember, every compensation claim is different; some may be settled in a matter of months, others may take years but as long as you enlist the help of a legal firm you will be fine.

Do you wish to make a Medical Negligence claim?

Medical professionals are generally regarded as providing us with excellent services when it comes to our healthcare. These excellent services could be present within a hospital, GP’s surgery, dental practice, nursing home or any other medical facility; we rely on these medical professionals and hand over the safety of our lives to them, sadly however there are cases when the care given to us goes completely wrong, leaving us suffering at the hands of the people we are meant to trust the most.

If medical treatment does, unfortunately go wrong you are at least entitled to an explanation and the medical professional who is treating you is in fact required by their governing body, which is the General Medical Council to inform a patient if the treatment that they are receiving goes wrong. There are many different areas of the medical profession where things could possibly go wrong such as within accident and emergency, anaesthetics, cancer treatment, cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, gastroenterology, general practice, keyhole surgery, mental health, neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, plastic surgery, psychiatry, radiology, sterilisation, urology, vascular surgery and many more.

Medical accidents and things going wrong are uncommon within the medical profession but mistakes do happen and in various instances doctors have been found in breach of a duty of care for aspects such as failing to diagnose or diagnosing too late as well as failure to warn of risks in treatment, failure to obtain proper consent to treatment, medication errors, careless surgical procedures and delayed referral to specialists. As well as this medical and clinical negligence can also arise out of system errors in the hospital where the treatment took place. Looking at a doctor’s point of view the reasons that things go wrong within medical treatment are often quite understandable. This is because doctors are humans and like every normal person they will make mistakes from time to time, especially when they are placed under immense pressure. This by no means defends medical negligence but you must remember that illness is never totally how it appears in textbooks and because of this important aspects may end up being hidden or happen unexpectedly.

Although medical negligence claims are quite rare they do occur and they can be brought against any form of medical practitioner such as doctors and surgeons but they can also be brought against dentists, midwives, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and psychiatrists.

When things go wrong, it can be hard for a patient or their loved ones to accept that human failure is a fact of life. When you put yourself and your health in the hands of a professional rightly you expect them to do their best

If you or a loved one has suffered at the hands of a medical professional in a situation that should not have happened then get in contact with a legal advisor today as you could be able to make a claim for compensation. It is your civil and legal right to make a claim for compensation if you have suffered unnecessarily. Contact a legal advisor today to find out where you stand legally with your claim.

Helen is the web master of Accident Consult, specialists in all aspects of Medical Negligence.