If you have a medical problem which you have not been able to resolve yourself, your GP may refer you for a specialist opinion from a consultant. Your GP writes a referral letter and you will receive an appointment for a clinic at a hospital in due course. At the clinic, you may see the consultant or a more junior doctor. You have to rely on how well you can understand what you are told at the consultation. The doctor will write to your GP as a result of the appointment, which will be a sort of “report”. You will not automatically get to see that letter. It can be difficult to get a clear idea of your diagnosis, prognosis and any further treatment proposed. How personal injury claim medical reports are different In the context of a personal injury claim, medical reports are different. As part of most personal injury claims, your solicitor will refer you at some point for an expert opinion from a specialist such as a consultant. If your injury includes, say, a bone Continue Reading
Slip On Ice At Work Case Clarifies Law On Workplace Personal Injury Claims
Imagine you're employed as a home carer in Scotland. Your work requires you to go out at all times of day and in all kinds of weather to provide personal care to the elderly, vulnerable and terminally-ill. One night in winter, with snow and ice lying on the ground, you slip and fall as you make your way to one of your client's homes. You break your wrist. The flat boots you were wearing had ridged soles but their grip was not enough to keep you upright. It turns out that crampon-like shoe attachments were available at reasonable cost and they would probably have prevented your fall if your employer had given you them to use. In other words, you can argue that your employer failed to take proper care for your safety, by failing to provide adequate personal protective equipment, so you have a right to claim compensation from them for your injuries and other losses. On the other hand, periodic sub-zero temperatures are a fact of life in northern Europe, aren't they? Anyone Continue Reading
Pedestrians Hit By Buses On The Pavement
An accident which happened in East Road, Elgin, Moray, has resulted in a Court of Session action for personal injury compensation. The Court of Session is the highest civil court in Scotland. The decision of the court (2015) is a useful illustration of the principles which apply when you have an accident between a bus and a pedestrian who is on the pavement at the time. Elgin bus The injured person, Ian Whyte, was a 10-year-old school boy at the time of the accident in 2008. He claimed against Bluebird Buses Limited for injuries he suffered when a bus struck him as he was standing on the edge of the kerb at the bus stop. Several young people were jostling for position near the kerb, as the bus drew in to the stop. The evidence indicated that the collision was between the near side of the bus, towards the front, and the back of the boy’s head. The impact knocked him over. However, he managed to pick himself up and get home. Much of the evidence in the case was derived from Continue Reading
Bereavement Damages – Scots Law Used As A Benchmark For Reform
The Radio 4 consumer programme “You and Yours”, for 14 January 2016, included a section on bereavement damages. It highlighted the fact that, although they say “you can’t put a price on a life”, in fact, we do it all the time. Decisions made about which treatments and drugs are going to be available on the NHS are one example. Another is the way we deal with compensation when someone dies as a result of negligence. Scotland as a benchmark for law reform in England and Wales One MP – a former personal injury lawyer – is asking for a change in the law to allow courts in England and Wales to pay more in compensation than at present and allow a wider range of relatives to claim, when someone has died as a result of negligence. In many ways, the Scottish legal position is being used as the blueprint for the proposed change in the law in England and Wales. Andy McDonald is the Labour MP for Middlesborough and his Private Member’s Bill comes before Parliament at the end of January Continue Reading