Archives

According to experts, the NHS may be heading for a summer crisis after the recent winter crisis that has seen the healthcare sector stretched to dangerous levels.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has reportedly claimed that the performance of the NHS in the coming summer months is set to be as bad as it was over winter, where the NHS was faced with increasingly high levels of admissions.

If the NHS is set for a summer crisis, patients’ health – and lives – may well be at risk.
Read More

Overworked care home staff problems have been linked to increased levels of patient abuse, according to recent studies into abuse taking place, and staff feeling “burnout” in the job.

According to the results of the studies, neglect and abuse can be more common in care homes where staff are struggling to cope with increasing demands.

With staff from almost 100 care homes – around 15,000 employees in total – responding to requests for data, only one care home apparently reported not seeing or partaking in abuse whatsoever. This data, when cross-referenced with data on how staff are coping in their roles, shows a concerning – but perhaps rather obvious – trend.
Read More

The NHS crisis worsens, according to the latest information from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), which is a huge worry for increasing medical negligence claims. It’s thought that more than two-thirds of staff believe patient safety has declined over the past year since the last time key questions about the state of the NHS were asked.

Around 1,500 NHS employees were asked the same questions they’d been questioned about last year on the conditions they’re working in and the quality of care available, and some 80% are reportedly worried about the ability to keep patients safe, with 84% citing demoralised staff as a result of increased pressure on the NHS.
Read More

According to media sources, GP practices in five areas of the country are offered agreements where they can be paid from the savings amounted from not referring patients to hospitals.

This incredibly controversial “profit share” system could allow GPs to cash in from not referring patients to hospitals, which leads to serious concerns over the quality of care and advice that may be given.

If doctors have the power to put profit before people, it may only be a matter of time before a patient is not referred to a hospital and suffers as a result.
Read More

In the same way there are a lot of unanswered questions over the liability and indemnity for autonomous vehicles, the same questions are also plaguing the growing use of drones.

You can buy outdoor drones and use them with barely any restrictions, but let’s face it; they can be dangerous and are known to come down unexpectedly or end up out of control.

With companies like Amazon wanting to use them for delivering parcels, we can safely say that the insurance and liability ought to rest with them; but what about the drones being used for personal use causing someone some serious damages?
Read More

Given there are clearly a number of outstanding safety issues and concerns over autonomous and self-drive cars, we have done a number of blogs about them in recent weeks and months.

Although there have been several accidents involving self-drive cars so far, we now have the first incident of a pedestrian killed by a self-drive car as well.

A self-drive Uber SUV that was in autonomous mode reportedly struck a 49-year-old woman earlier this week, fatally injuring her. The incident has once against called in to question the safety of self-drive vehicles that our own government are pushing to be on our roads in the next few years.
Read More

In the next few years, the government wants autonomous vehicles – including self-driving lorries – on Britain’s roads. The problem is what happens when there is an accident, as well as how accidents can be stopped when a vehicle is essentially being controlled by a potentially fallible computer.

There have already been a number of incidents and fatalities with self-drive vehicles involved, so how can we be assured that they’re completely safe on our roads? If something does go wrong, how do we nail who is liable between a “driver” who may still be in the seat, and the manufacturer.
Read More

Is an e-cigarette safe? Is “vaping” causing more damage to us than smoking? Is it a suitable alternative to smoking?

We’re not medical experts, but it’s clear from reports that those of us who “vape” need to err on the side of caution in some respects. Although the long-term health benefits / risks appear to have not yet been fully established, there have been numerous incidents reported of e-cigarette batteries exploding.

For the victims, there may be a way to claim for personal injury compensation.
Read More

When a claimant suffers personal injury because of someone else’s negligence, they can claim compensation for the injuries and harm suffered as a result of that negligence. But what happens when someone is injured by someone acting in the course of their duty on behalf of a company? i.e. like an employee acting in the course of their employment?

Vicarious liability is a way where an individual’s responsibility and liability can be transferred to their employer if the accident happened during the individual’s course of employment. The defendant’s employer should be insured and have the finances to compensate the claimant, and they can essentially cover the negligence of an employee.
Read More

Whilst on holiday, our client lost their footing on a hotel driveway defect which caused them to fall and suffer a broken wrist.

There’s never a good time for it, but to suffer an injury like that while on holiday when you’re supposed to be relaxing is devastating!

Our client also suffered bruising to the leg. Uneven ground and flooring may not seem like much to some, but they can cause serious harm. In addition to broken bones, anyone who trips on them could end up hitting their heads and could suffer a brain injury.
Read More