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.

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.

Medical Negligence – Dental Malpractice

Any kind of negligence or poor quality dental care can be defined as dental malpractice. Having a dental treatment can be an unnerving experience and damage or side effects can occur; however in some cases this is often unavoidable.

Dentists have as duty of care towards patients to ensure that they receive proper treatment and the majority of dentists are successful in helping their patients to achieve good oral health. Dentistry is a difficult and rewarding profession and the medical practitioners involved in this skilled profession work long hours and use the best equipment to get surgery completed with minimal discomfort.

The average person probably doesn’t understand much about dental treatment and because of this we put our full trust and confidence into the dentist working on our teeth. In order to protect us when it comes to the dental work that we have carried out the General Dental Council (GDC) was set up. The GDC regulates the dental professionals within the UK and works to protect patients and promote confidence in the dental profession. This is because all dental patients are entitled to high standards of professional and personal behaviour from those providing their care.

As part of their duty to protect the public the GDC have always had the power to take action by either removing or restricting a dental professional’s registration on the Dental Professionals’ Register. This gives you peace of mind that if the worse does happen that action can be taken against the dental professional who caused that damage.

If the worst happens when you are undergoing your dental treatment and you end up suffering as a result you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation. If the standard of care shown by a dental practitioner slips below the acceptable level then you may have a case for compensation. Below are just a few example of what constitutes being medical negligence when it comes to dentistry:

• Failure to fully detect an oral disease or malformation
• Improper utilisation of dental or surgical utensils
• Installation of defective dental products
• Personal injury to oral cavity or surrounding bone and tissue
• Wrongful death due to dental procedures or anaesthetic

Dental malpractice can occur under a number of different circumstances such as a missed diagnosis; when a dentist fails to see an injury or dental problem and as a result of this the problem worsens. Another example is an incorrect diagnosis, which is when a dental practitioner fails to carry out work or they undertake work that results in you being in more pain.

Two other factors that could play a part in medical negligence are careless work and drug usage error. If a dentist carries out careless work it can cause personal injury and in a case of drug usage error a dentist may administer them incorrectly or fail to see if an allergic reaction occurred.

If you feel like you have been let down by the dental profession or you are suffering pain as a result of the treatment that you have received then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

For information regarding where you stand legally with making a claim for compensation get in touch with a legal firm today.

Helen is the web master of Accident Consult, legal specialists who can help you with all of your Medical Negligence Claims.

Head/Brain Injuries – Claiming Compensation

If you or members of your family have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault and you’ve suffered brain injuries from this accident, you have a legal and civil right to claim compensation. Brain injuries are very serious whatever type, not only may it change the person’s life forever but it also affects everyone around the injured person.

In the UK over a million people attend accident and emergency every year with head injuries from a trauma to the head. Due to this, thousands of brain injury accident claims are pursed every year.

There are different types of head injuries these include:

• Closed Injury – this is when the trauma to the head is without any penetration to the brain which means the brain has had no twisting or turning on its axis. Banging of the head and skull can cause widespread or localized damage to the brain but this isn’t a closed injury.

• Open Injury – an open injury is when there is penetration to the skull by an object impacting the skull. The initial impact of the object can be severe but usually patients make a virtually full recovery.

Permanent damage from a head injury varies from person to person but it’s not just the things we hear from the news or in the papers, there’s a lot more that no-one knows about. If the following 4 points are present as a result of the accident there is likely to be permanent damage:

1. Loss of Consciousness

2. Loss of Memory for the events running up to the accident and immediately after the accident

3. Focal Neurological Deficit

4. Alteration in Mental State at the time of the accident – the patient feeling confused, dazed or disoriented

Some brain and head injuries are not obvious at the time of the accident and a while after, some injuries only show once time progresses. The following are the side effects which can arise from a head and brain injury:

• Cognitive Changes
• Lack of Insight
• Memory Problems
• Poor Concentration
• Slowed Responses
• Poor Planning and Problem-Solving
• Lack of Initiative
• Inflexibility
• Impulsivity
• Irritability
• Socially Inappropriate Behavior
• Communication
• Self-Centeredness
• Dependency
• Emotional Control
• Depression
• Loss of Taste and Smell
• Dizziness and Balance
• Epilepsy and Seizures
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Visual Problems
• Chronic Pain
• Paralysis
• Hearing Problems

Some of these problems are well-known but there’s also a lot that aren’t and there are also other problems some people have reported which are being looked into. Many people think that a brain injury will cause problems such as intellectual abilities but it’s not only that it’s movement, communicating, controlling and coordinating their thoughts and actions.

If you’ve been in an accident or have had trauma to the skull and it wasn’t your fault you have the right to claim compensation which you deserve to help make your life easier. If you’ve had to pay medical bills and medicine costs these can be noted, any loss of earnings as well as the suffering you may have gone through or are going through now and for the rest of your life. Your compensation claim will cover all these points and make sure you don’t have to pay for everything yourself; it’s not fair especially if someone did this to you. Don’t wait; make a compensation claim today by contacting a solicitor who specializes in head and brain injury cases.

Jene Pedder is the Webmaster of Accident Consult who specialize in Head & Brain Injury Accident Claims.