Maybe you have seen the film “AWAKE” with hayden Christensen.  Possible anyone’s worst nightmare.  Anaesthetic awareness is referred to as the recall of events by a patient during general anaesthesia. 

The patient can usually describe the events as they are happening during the operation and while most reports suggest that this only happens for one part of the surgical procedure a significant number report it happening for the duration of the entire operation.

Anaesthesia awareness can be put down to faulty techniques, failure to check equipment, faulty equipment and justified risk taking.  70% of all cases come down to faulty techniques.

The most common cases of inadequate anaesthesia include:

• pain associated with skin incision and insertion of sutures.
• Paralysis with feelings of distress at being unable to signal wakefulness.
• psychological disturbances.  Which include panic, a sense of disaster, a feeling of death or dying with subsequent recurrent nightmares, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, claustrophobia and thoughts of suicide.

Some mothers resent their baby for the agony it caused and some are too frightened to have more children or surgery.

If you have suffered in this way, it’s imperrative you find good representation.

This area of the medical profession has a jaded history of being inadequately regulated with regards to surgeons specific qualifications and experience. 

Many private cosmetic surgeon’s employee doctors who have dropped out of their training.  Your probably not aware of this but any doctor can perform surgery.  The ‘care standards act’ which came into place in April of 2002 means that clinics and surgeons which are now in practice are regulated by law however it doesn’t protect you against doctors in practice before this date.  The law only requires doctors in practice after this date to register.

The minimum standards covered by the act are:

• The act will regulate private clinics and ensure that national minimum standards are met.
• All practitioners must be ‘appropriately recruited, trained and qualified.’
• Patients must be offered counselling and a two week cooling off period before treatment.
• All private hospitals and clinics must have a formal complaints procedure.

Common claims we receive following surgery are:

• lack of consent which include the lack of a full explanation of the risks and alternatives.
• obtrusive scarring following a face lift
• Unsatisfactory results for dermabrasion, chemical peels and laser surgery to the face
• Injury to the accessory nerve following a face lift
• Unsatisfactory or poor results from rhinoplasty
• breast uplift resulting in excessive or unexpected scarring
• breast reduction resulting in uneveness and unsightly scarring
• liposuction resulting in perforation to the bowel or damage to other parts
• liposuction procedures resulting in unacceptable scarring

If you want to claim against your cosmetic practice please ensure the firm has the necessary experience to carry this through.  You also must be prepared to stick with it do not expect a quick result.

Medical negligence is something not all solicitors will become involved with as it is a specialist area.  It’s hard to imagine that the service you place your trust into could let you down so badly and certainly an incredibly scary prospect. 

One that can result in:

• Loss of past and future income
• Care for the past and care for the future
• Medical expenses and prescriptions
• Pain and suffering including psychological damage
• Loss of amenities of life
• Reduced employment prospects
• Legal expenses

I have always maintained that it’s better to speak out about these issues rather than say nothing as it serves two purposes:
1] It will provide you with compensation against any injury you have suffered medically.
2] It will help to improve the services of these institutions.

It’s important that the team you choose is experienced in this type of injury which will most likely lead to court action, so be prepared to stick with it.  The solicitors that take on medical negligence cases are in it for the long haul and typically completion of cases can take a while.

Like with any personal injury it is important to be clear and identify what the procedure was, how it went wrong, what the injury was, who was to blame and what evidence you have before contacting a solicitor as this will help you.

RTA’s or road traffic accidents can be seriously distressing and typically result in one or more injuries.  Over 4 thousand deaths occur each year on our UK roads with close to half a million casualties.

Let’s not focus on the statistics when we all know how dangerous our roads can be.  If you have been involved in a traffic accident at the very least you will have received a whip lash injury.  Whip lash is an incredibly common problem.

Many people think that a whip lash injury is not worth the aggravation of complaining when in actual fact only requires a trip to the doctors for an assessment and a call to a company that deals in no win no fee road traffic accidents such as ours.

Typically the award for whip lash is in the region of 2.5k so will certainly compensate for any inconvenience caused by the accident.

When you contact your insurers to notify them of your accident you will most likely receive a phone call from a claims management company wishing to take on your case.

You do NOT have to go with this company and are free to shop around, we would always suggest you do this to ensure you receive the best advice and the best solicitor to work with you.

If you have suffered in any type of car accident you want a company that will ensure you receive the maximum claim in the quickest time possible.
The problem with many RTA solicitors is that they drag their feet, sitting on your information for weeks and reacting slowly to medical reports and counter requests.  This typically delays your reward, in some cases by many months.

Once the third party have admitted liability you will most likely begin to receive offers.  You are not obligated to accept any of these offers.  A phone call took place the other day from a woman who was offered £1200.00 for her whip lash injury, her solicitor was advising she accept and she called us for a second opinion if she persists she should receive closer to 3k.

Road traffic accidents often result in greater injuries, much more serious than general whiplash.  It is advised to seek medical assistance in all these cases and don’t be in a rush to make the decision to sue you have up to 3 years to claim compensation.

Making a no win, no fee claim for personal injury is nothing to be ashamed of, in the times we live it’s a normal part of everyday life and can be a real boost to your bank account.

I read an article the other day in a magazine, it showed a couple with a family of ten and the headline read “the credit crunch is great for us” and demonstrated how this jobless family earned over 45k a year from the state and live in a 7 bedroom house paid for by the government.

The relevance of the above is non other than to point out that if it’s ok for some then it’s ok for us and claiming for a personal injury is definitely nothing to be ashamed of.  In fact so many people are doing it nowadays that it’s just a cost we calculate into our insurance premiums, whether we are looking for car insurance or business insurance.

So what is the best way to claim?

What makes your case something that you can turn into much needed cash?

How long will it take once you put a claim in, to actually see some money back? 

What is the deal with claims management companies?

Who do you trust?

These and more questions will be answered within the articles on this blog, we invite your feedback, questions, experiences and thoughts on anything we publish so feel free to add comment.