Brain Injury Compensation and Head Trauma Claims

Brain injuries can be caused by traumatic or non-traumatic circumstances.  A traumatic brain injury occurs due to the impact of an external force which can sometimes penetrate a specific part of the brain and can also involve damage to the scalp and skull.

The most common, non-traumatic causes, are:

• Vascular- such as a stroke caused by a clot in a brain artery or bleeds into the brain
• Epilepsy
• Brain tumours (cancers)
• Metabolic- such as a lack of oxygen to the brain or low blood pressure
• Drugs, alcohol, low blood sugar, excessive temperature
• Infective - such as meningitis, tuberculosis, cerebral abscesses, and tropical infections including malaria
• Raised intracranial pressure (ICP) – a rise in pressure caused by an increase in the amount of surrounding fluid cushioning the brain

Brain injury is often caused by trauma or a lack of oxygen to the brain, causing cells to die. This can happen during birth, where mishandled labour may cause a baby to be deprived of oxygen; it can also happen during surgery, where a surgical error could have lifelong consequences. A failure to diagnose a brain injury could also constitute neglect if the person was then to suffer further harm as a result. These are the most common instances of medically negligent brain injury cases that we see, but there are of course many others.

A brain injury can appear in many different ways, from memory loss to the most severe difficulties involving the conscious state of mind and physical movement. The underlying cause and the specific areas of the damaged brain will largely determine the outward symptoms and effects of the injury.

Common causes and basic symptoms...

A stroke - caused by a blockage in a blood vessel in the brain can damage the motor and sensory pathways in one half of the brain and impair the opposing side of the body. Symptoms include weakness in movement and a loss of sensation in the affected side.

A hospital trust has a legal ‘Duty of Candour’ to both inform and apologise to patients if mistakes have been made while in their care which have led to significant harm. However, finding out why these mistakes occurred and proving clinical negligence was the cause can still be a significant challenge. A legal specialist with the knowledge and experience of handling such cases can make a crucial difference in succeeding with a claim.

Clinical negligence cases are, understandably, often highly emotionally charged and therefore demand the highest degree of sensitivity and understanding by lawyers during an often long and complex legal process.

Usually, with an injury resulting from medical negligence, there is a three-year time limit from the ‘date of knowledge’ for you to make your claim. The ‘date of knowledge’ is the date when you became aware of the negligent treatment that led to the worsening of your injury or illness.

The exceptions to this are in the cases of children, or if the negligence resulted in a fatality. In these examples, the time begins to run on the date of the child’s 18th birthday or, if the case was a fatality, from the date of death.

For brain injuries resulting from medical negligence, there are no cut and dry compensation amounts. We can give examples and estimates, but the amount of compensation an individual may be owed due to a brain injury depends on your circumstances and loss.

While there are guidelines on compensation for brain injuries, in medical negligence cases, compensation amounts are awarded according to a range of factors. Usually they will be awarded based on your loss of earnings, any costs associated with your future care and any potential costs or losses you would have suffered due to the negligence.

A no win, no fee arrangement is when you agree to a CFA, or Conditional Fee Arrangement with your solicitor. By agreeing to this fee arrangement, you pay nothing upfront to your solicitor, nor do you pay any fees if you lose your case.

For many who are already struggling due to loss of earnings, increased cost of care, or an inability to work after a brain injury; this payment model exists in order to allow victims of medical negligence to pursue compensation without facing financial risk.

If a person is unable to manage their own claim for whatever reason, particularly in cases such as these where brain injury may affect cognitive function, you may become what is known as a ‘Litigation Friend’. A ‘Litigation Friend’ has a duty to act in an individual’s best interests and will take on the responsibilities of managing a claim for their friend or family member. If you are to be a litigation friend on behalf of a loved one, or there must be an established connection such as next of kin.

We have a dedicated medical negligence team who handle all medical negligence cases. Our Director of Medical Negligence, Laura Morgan, specialises in medical negligence claims which have resulted in brain injury to both adults and children.  She is a member of the Law Society Clinical Negligence specialist panel and the Action Against Medical Accidents panel of specialist lawyers.  Laura was shortlisted for ‘Lawyer of the Year’ at the Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Awards. She has achieved large settlements for her clients, notably £5.4 million for a 7-year-old child and £4 million for an 11-year-old child. Our team will always seek maximum compensation on your behalf; to ensure that the damages you are awarded will cover your expenses, costs and losses.

Brain injury compensation can help you to live as independently as possible, whilst managing the outcome of your condition. A severe injury to the brain can have lifelong implications; seeking compensation can help you to cover any additional care costs, recover lost earnings and ensure financial security for you and your family.

Yes, you can bring a claim for negligence against the Hospital Trust responsible for the care provided to you in an NHS hospital if you if you received substandard care and you were injured as a result.  If you want to, you can make a complaint via PALS – a process which can help you to resolve an issue with your healthcare provider. A complaint is separate from a claim for compensation, which is about ensuring that your financial losses are covered and your future needs can be catered for.  You do not need to make a complaint about your care before starting an investigation into whether you have a clinical negligence claim.  We can talk to you about whether it would be better to make a complaint first.

There are different types of brain injury; you do not need to know what type of brain injury you have suffered to talk to us about your claim. What we do is ask, if you believe or suspect that the brain injury may have been sustained through negligent medical care or worsened through misdiagnosis. Types of brain injury could be:

• Anoxic brain injury – where a lack of oxygen causes cells to die
• Concussion – bruising to the brain tissue
• Diffuse Axonal Injury – damage to the nerve connections in the brain
• Haematoma – blood clots or the build-up of blood between the lining of the brain and the skull
• Skull fracture – damage to the skull

Your first step is to call us directly or fill in our web form, as an initial phone conversation can help us determine if you could pursue a claim. It’s a good idea to gather information before this phone call, as we will ask questions that require you to have some idea of dates, events and places. If you have kept a written log of your medical treatment, this will make the initial telephone consultation easier but is not a requirement of starting your claim. Some people find it helpful to write down what they want to say before they call us; if you are acting on behalf of someone else, or are asking someone to speak on behalf of yourself, you can arrange this before the phone call.

• 1 million– estimated number of people in the UK living with the long-term effects of brain injury
• 10,000 - 20,000 -  number of severe traumatic brain injuries per year in the UK
• Every 90 seconds- someone is admitted to hospital in the UK with acquired brain injury
• 353,059– number of UK admissions to hospital with acquired brain injury, 2011-12
• 213,752- total UK admissions to hospital for head injury, 2011-12
• 5 per cent -  increase in UK head injury admissions in the last decade
• 15-24 year old males / 80 year olds-  groups most at risk of traumatic brain injuries                                                                    

(Headway, The Brain Injury Association - Latest available figures)

Surgical or anaesthetic error, a delay in the treatment of a stroke, tumour, aneurysm, abscess or subarachnoid haemorrhage, poor management of pregnancy or childbirth  - all of these circumstances could result in a brain injury. 

For a claim to be successful, you have to prove that:

• The doctor, surgeon or hospital - was in breach of the duty of care they owed to the patient.
• The care received - fell below the standard that could “reasonably be expected” from a qualified specialist in the appropriate field.
• The lack of care - directly led to the injury which was a “reasonably foreseeable consequence” of the actions or omissions of the doctor or another providing the treatment.