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When an individual has suffered through medical negligence it can be a very traumatic time. People place a lot of trust in doctors and medical practitioners and naturally when it comes to health issues are more often than not keen to take the advice and recommendations of a qualified medical professional.

This can make it all the more difficult to cope when such a professional falls below the standard of care that they are expected to provide to their patients.

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Certain individuals are not deemed under law to have the ability to bring or defend a claim in the court by themselves. This applies to two categories of person: children and protected parties.

• A child is defined as any person under the age of 18
• Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 a protected party means a party, or an intended party, who lacks capacity to conduct the proceedings

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Tomorrow signals the start of the Ashes series. England take on Australia at Cardiff in the first test in what promises to be an excellent and exciting sporting event played out over the next month or so. Unfortunately one sour note has been the death of cricketing umpire Alcwyn Jenkins this week. Mr Jenkins was hit on the head by a cricket ball and collapsed while umpiring a league match between Swansea and Llangennech in Swansea.

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If a cow starts charging at you, then you had better Moo-ve out of the way (sorry)! Ms Shirlie McKaskie didn’t though, and it might just lead to a very large compensation claim. Ms McKaskie suffered serious injury in 2003 as she was attacked by cows while walking across a field and is looking to claim up to £1 million after a judge ruled that farmer John Cameron was liable because he had not properly considered the risk of someone getting injured.

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This week the Court of Appeal presided over the case of Baker and Others v Quantum Clothing and Others. This case concerned the liability of an employer in the knitting industry of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for employees’ loss of hearing caused by exposure to noise at a lower level than was previously recognised as giving rise to liability.
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Hair straightners have been labelled as partly to blame for an increased number of hospital admissions for children suffering burns. According to The Times, The Children Accident Prevention Trust have studied evidence that indicates that hospitals are seeing increased numbers of children who injury themselves with hot irons.

Hair straightners can reach temperatures of up to 220 Centigrade and remain hot for up to 8 minutes after being switched off and NHS statistics indicate 358 children under 5 needed hospital treatment for burns in 2006 -7.
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Estimated  figures published by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions in 2001 make for some grim reading, indicating that:

• Insurance evasion was running at between 4 and 6% of all  vehicles in use
• Between 1 million and 1 ¼ million of vehicles on the roads were uninsured
• Accidents for which uninsured drivers were responsible cost the motor insurance industry  over £400 million in 1999
• As a result each insured motorist ended up paying a further £15 to £30 premium on their policy

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The government is to push for strict new controls governing the use of sunbeds. Radiation and medical experts have concluded that unmanned tanning salons should be banned across the UK and that other tanning salons should only be available to those over the age of 18. The Health and Safety Executive estimates more than 100 deaths per year from cancer as linked to use of sunbeds.
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A secondary school teacher who was hit by a falling branch is suing the Environmental Agency for up to £300,000. Ms Doreen Prior, sustained a blow to the head from the branch, which came from a diseased ash tree in April 2007. The incident occurred on a public footpath at Barcombe Mills in East Sussex and among the symptoms suffered by Ms Prior she lists tiredness, a cut to the head, an impaired memory and states that she now has trouble multi-tasking and has been unable to resume her job as a teacher.
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A leading road safety charity has moved to warn people against insurers who are acting to settle claims mere hours after accidents have taken place. Brake is concerned that insurers are encouraging victims to take a pay out before getting legal or medical advice. This problem with this is that, although it may be tempting to settle the claim quickly and gain compensation early, victims can be left out of pocket especially if they have longer lasting injuries. The pay outs offered are in full and final settlement of claims and mean that there is no legal option to claim any further compensation once this is agreed.
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