I went into hospital for a hip operation and whilst I was in surgery a clamp was used which trapped and caused damage to a nerve in my hip/upper leg. This damage to the nerve has resulted in foot drop, which has affected my daily life.

I have been pleased that I got in touch with SJP Law as Mark has been fantastic over the five and a half years it has taken to reach a settlement. Both Mark and Donna have been calm and supportive all the way through.

Mark explained the process in clear and easy to understand language at every stage.  Every stage was written down in detail and supplied to me to make sure I completely understood all aspects of the claim process as it progressed.

During the process I had to go and see medical experts to ascertain the extent of my injury and SJP Law organised everything for me, all I had to do was travel to the appointment.

I would absolutely recommend Mark and his assistant Donna to anyone in similar circumstances, they have been honest, straightforward and fantastic in helping me get a settlement for my nerve damage caused by the hip operation.

I would certainly use their services again, should I need to.

The post Successful medical claim for nerve damage during hip operation causing foot drop appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

In 1991 I gave birth to my son. At an early age he was diagnosed with the condition Cerebral Palsy which affects his muscle control and movement as well as his mental ability. His complex needs means he is unable to look after himself and requires continuous care.

As a close knit family we adapted to care for our son’s needs. Both my husband and I work within the medical profession so felt, with the support of those around us, we were capable of looking after his on-going requirements.

From the beginning we believed there was some negligence on the part of the hospital at the time of our son’s birth. However as we felt capable of looking after him and had the financial stability to do so, we didn’t pursue the matter any further.

In 1999, nineteen years later, I contacted Stamp, Jackson and Procter regarding an injury I had received to my leg. A friend had made the suggestion so after I saw an advertisement on TV I decided to call.

A solicitor visited and discussed my accident however after some advice I decided not to pursue the case. During the visit the solicitor met my son and I explained about his special needs. They listened to our circumstances and advised that even though nineteen years had passed, they believed the hospital had been negligent and that it would be in our son’s best interests to bring a case against them.

At first my husband and I were greatly reluctant. We had managed for nineteen years, our son was happy, we had a routine, as far as we were concerned our house was suitable and should we unfortunately no longer be able to look after him then our other son would help with his care.

The solicitor from SJP Law was also very honest and advised us that it would be a long process and it would mean our son having to see a number of experts. Such cases could be stressful and intrusive at times, all of which seemed very daunting.

However, over time and after some discussions with SJP Law, we came to realise that if we were successful then our son, who was growing into a young man, would stand to benefit from any compensation. This would mean he could have professional carers for the rest of his life and would not have to rely on his brother. It would also mean that we could afford to buy equipment to aid him.

From the start, SJP Law and their team were approachable, professional and helpful. My husband and I insisted we were informed of every decision and wanted to be involved as much as possible in the process. We were continuously kept updated with emails and phone calls and if there was something we were unsure of, Shaun and his team took the time to explain the details to us. They were also very respectful of our wishes to keep direct involvement with our son to a minimum due to his lack of understanding and anxiety issues.

Due to the complexity of the case, SJP Law employed a large team of experts plus a case management team. It occasionally meant travelling to London but we were keen to attend every meeting to hear the expert’s opinions. The case took place in the Royal Courts of Justice in London and was eventually settled after five years. A substantial settlement was awarded.

There were highs and lows throughout the case. The most upsetting, was when we finally received an apology from the hospital and their admittance that there was negligence on their part. This was upsetting because we realised that had they not been negligent our son’s circumstances may have been very different. However, it also meant that they were willing to accept they were at fault and with the compensation awarded, our son would want for nothing for the rest of his life.

To us it was worth going through the process just to have the peace of mind that our son would be looked after even when we are no longer capable of taking care of him.

Although the case is concluded, SJP Law continue to be a constant source of support to our family. They have helped set up a care and case management regime for our son, together with therapy. They have also helped us buy and set up a new home that is adapted with the aids and equipment our son needs. We have also appointed them to help manage the compensation our son received as we know they will act in his future best interests.

Thanks to all of the team at SJP Law we are able to move on with our lives knowing that we have their support and our son is well cared for. I would definitely recommend anyone, who finds themselves in similar circumstances, to contact Shaun Rylands and his team.

The post At an early age my son was diagnosed with the condition Cerebral Palsy appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

Background: Our client was urgently admitted to Grimsby Maternity Hospital after being diagnosed with toxaemia. She was given Valium and induced into labour with three doses of Syntocinon, exceeding the standard practice of two doses. Following a traumatic birth, her daughter, Natalie, was delivered with forceps and immediately taken to the special neonatal care unit due to health concerns, where she stayed for 19 days.

Early Challenges: When Natalie was brought home, her parents sensed something was wrong. She had difficulty feeding and cried constantly. A specialist assessment at Grimsby Hospital revealed that Natalie had cerebral palsy and several other disabilities. As Natalie grew, her needs increased, prompting her parents to seek professional care.

Finding the Right Care: After an extensive search, the family found Stonecroft House, a Leonard Cheshire Home, to be the most suitable care facility for Natalie. Despite initial funding challenges, they secured the necessary support, and Natalie began her residential placement.

Legal Support: At a local Cerebral Palsy Society meeting, our client met Neil Holland from SJP Law. Years later, she approached Neil to discuss a potential clinical negligence case against the NHS and maternity staff. Her detailed journals documenting Natalie’s medical history proved invaluable in building the case.

Legal Battle: The case took six years to resolve, with the defending side weakening in the final years.  SJP Law secured a substantial award to support Natalie’s lifetime needs. The funds were placed with the Court of Protection, but accessing the money proved challenging due to bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies.

Transition to a Trust: Frustrated with the delays, the family switched the management of the award to a trust set up with SJP Law. This decision provided immediate access to funds and resolved the issues associated with the Office of Public Guardian. Neil, as the main trustee, ensured the correct management of the award, offering long-term confidence and peace of mind.

Ongoing Support: The trust allowed for the investment of capital, employment law advice, property advice, and payroll processing for Natalie’s carers. The comprehensive support from SJP Law enabled the family to focus on enjoying their time with Natalie without worrying about financial and care management.

The post A Lifelong Journey of Care and Support appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

Legal Battle: After extensive discussions with the NHS trust involved and shortly after initiating court proceedings, the hospital admitted fault for her injuries. The hospital’s chief executive sent a heartfelt letter of apology to the family and accepted the legal claim. However, the journey was far from over.

A New Home: At 18, the young woman moved out of her family home, which was no longer suitable for her needs, to a residential care home. Her family sought to move her to a specially adapted home where she could live with them. This request led to a court hearing, where the family sought interim payments of just over £1 million to fund the move. Despite objections from the defendant, the family prevailed, and the judge ordered the payment.

Adapting to New Needs: To ensure the young woman’s needs were met, disability architects were instructed to find a suitable property. Collaborating with the family, plans were drawn up to adapt and extend the house to cater to all their requirements. The house was purchased with the interim payment, and work began even before the case was concluded.

Settlement and Support: Four years after the case began, a meeting between the legal teams resulted in a settlement without the need for a trial. The case was settled for an overall sum of around £6.2 million, including annual payments of £160,000 to cover the cost of our client’s team of carers. This settlement is believed to be one of the highest achieved in the region.

Ongoing Assistance: SJP Law continue to support the family by administering the awarded damages, acting as trustees, providing investment advice, and offering professional support to the family and the team of carers.

This story highlights the perseverance and dedication of a family seeking justice and a better life for their loved one, proving that it is never too late to make a difference.

The post It’s not always too late to get compensation appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

With a family to support and having lost his job and no prospect of working again he was running into severe financial problems when Stamp Jackson & Procter started to get him back on track.

The engineer had effectively lost his career and needed help to rebuild his life. “It becomes a shared experience. You have to work closely in going through all the procedures but when, as it was in my case, you have an understanding person to deal with, there are so many other problems you can discuss and get support on. Our solicitor, and everybody in the firm, were so helpful in answering our questions and making sure we knew exactly what was going on. We trust them and tend to leave everything to them, but they take extra care to ensure we are always fully informed.”

The post Recovering from a catastrophic injury appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

I got worse over the next few days. My father found me at home a few days later slurring my words and disorientated (although I do not remember it as my memory of the events has gone now). We went back to the hospital and this time I was scanned and told that the violent headache I suffered a few days before was in fact a haemorrhage. I was told that I needed to be admitted for emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately before the operation happened I fell into a coma before the surgeons could operate. Eventually I came out of the coma and I was taught to walk and talk again before being sent to a nursing home to recover. For a long time I was unable to deal with my affairs and my father did it for me. I was also unable to go back to work as an electronics engineer for a long time and even when I got back to work I could not do my old job as it was too much for me.

My family were unhappy that the hospital had discharged me when I was suffering from a brain bleed. My brother researched local solicitors expert in dealing with brain injury cases and he contacted Stamp Jackson & Procter after looking at their website. When I was up to it my father took me to see Neil Holland. It was the first of many face to face meetings we had. We felt happy and instructed Neil to look into my case.

We were worried about legal costs but Neil was able to use an existing insurance policy so it cost me nothing to get started. The insurance cover ran out but it did not matter because Stamp Jackson & Procter offered to pay for all the experts expenses and act for me on a No Win No Fee instead. In the end I did not have to pay any legal costs.

To help assess my case we put together a team of experts, some of whom had a worldwide reputation, who had decades of experience in neurosurgery and rehabilitation after brain injury. Tests were done to show which parts of my brain were not functioning properly so that we could work out what type of help and support I needed. Neil and his team spent a long time taking witness statements from family, old friends and work colleagues to help explain the test results and to prove what I was like before the bleed. After this assessment process I had a much better understanding of why my brain was not functioning like it used to and why I needed help and support to function independently. I would not have known this if it were not for the detailed assessment process I went through.

Neil introduced me to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust whom are experts in helping people recover from and cope with brain injury. By then I understood that I needed some support so I agreed to work with a case manager from BIRT. They gave me the support and prompting I needed to function better independently and I have used them ever since.

Neil spoke to me about the difficulties with my case and we had face to face meetings with all of the experts as well as the specialist barrister we hired to advise on the case. I was advised on the strengths and weaknesses and told how much my case was worth.

We put all of this to the Hospitals solicitors. They admitted that they should not have discharged me but said that their experts had advised them that all the damage had been caused to my brain by then so they would not be offering me any compensation. My team of experts disagreed with this and said we should keep fighting so Neil started Court action for me.

The hospital’s solicitor’s experts asked if they could do tests on me which I agreed to but I was astonished when the results came back and said there was very little wrong with my brain. It made me angry that they were trying to paint me this way. Neil and my team of experts fought for me and spent more time gathering evidence to disprove the defence case.

The hospital’s solicitors eventually agreed to meet us to discuss settlement terms but the offers they made at the meeting were below what Neil and my barrister had told me to expect. It was a lot of money but I was advised to keep pushing for a fair settlement or take the case to trial. I knew my team believed in my case.

A few days before the trial was due to start Neil called to say the Hospital’s solicitors had now agreed to pay the terms I had asked for months ago at the meeting and did I want to settle. I did not want a trial and was more than happy with the terms.

My story with Stamp Jackson & Procter does not end there. Neil suggested that I should protect my compensation as it had to last a long time. He gave me some advice on how to do that. I discussed what to do with it with my family, banks and advisors. I thought about it for quite a while. In the end I asked Neil and Stamp Jackson & Procter if they would look after it for me because I trusted them. I was advised to put the money in Trust. I asked my brother and Neil to be trustees for me which they agreed to do. I know my money is safe and my family are helping look after it for me.

The post I was told it was a migraine, nothing more, and given some painkillers appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

Our client was involved in a Road Traffic Accident whilst driving a fork lift truck on the road. Our client was approaching a roundabout when the defendant decided to overtake them in their HGV. At the same time a vehicle exited the roundabout causing the defendant to swerve back into the left lane too soon, causing them to hit the front of our client’s vehicle with the back of theirs.

The impact was so violent that it caused our client’s fork lift to be thrown into the air and land on top of a lamp post. Our client suffered severe injuries and was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary for treatment.
 
He was diagnosed with severe damage to the spine affecting L1 and L4 and required surgery to insert rods; he had also suffered further fractured vertebra and 2 contorted vertebra.
 
Liability was conceded by the defendant. The injuries sustained by our client were likely to impact his employment as a farm Manager in later life.
 
Our client was provided with rehabilitation under the Rehab Code to help him back to a relatively normal life.
 
Our client received a six-figure compensation settlement which will help him in the years to come.
 
“I can’t thank Mark enough at SJP Law, he has been spot on in helping to explain and answer any questions I had as the case progressed. He always kept me updated very quickly, responding in the same day. I am 100% satisfied, he was really thorough, made everything clear and easy to understand.
 
I will thoroughly recommend Mark to anyone if they need legal help with a Personal Injury case.”

The post Misdiagnosis of a subarachnoid haemorrhage appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.

The Case: The family believed that serious negligence and mismanagement during the birth caused the injury. They sought our support to obtain the necessary compensation for lifelong care. The hospital failed to involve a senior obstetrician despite the client’s heart rate dropping abnormally low. Additionally, key medical equipment was not maintained properly, leading to inadequate monitoring of the heart rate for over half an hour. Several risk factors for both the mother and baby were also overlooked.

The Client: The client’s condition requires constant care due to learning difficulties, communication and behavioural problems, impaired mobility, and low dexterity. He needs assistance with everyday tasks such as washing, dressing, and eating. He will never be able to live independently, work, or manage his own finances.

The Settlement: After taking action against the hospital trust, they admitted liability, and we secured an out-of-court settlement. The client received a lump sum of £2,850,000, along with yearly payments of £73,750 until age 18, increasing to £150,000 per year until age 65, and then £185,000 annually for the rest of his life.

Impact: The compensation allows the family to provide the necessary professional care for the client now and in the future. He can live in private accommodation with constant support from a professional team who will manage his fund to ensure it continues to meet his needs.

Conclusion: This settlement has enabled our client and his family to achieve the best possible quality of life, ensuring he receives the high-quality, lifelong care he needs.

The post Brain Injury at Birth appeared first on Medical Accident Claimline.