Injury Awareness Week: lawyer warns of ‘justice gap’ for victims
Leading national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP is calling for urgent action to close the growing “justice gap” as shocking “never events” – incidents that should never happen – continue to occur in hospitals, workplaces and on roads across the UK.
The call comes ahead of Injury Awareness Week (from June 23-27), organised by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), which aims to draw attention to the rights of injured people and the barriers to justice they often face.
A recent report from APIL found that the market continues to be defined by several ‘justice gaps’, where injures have increased but claims have fallen. This indicates that the number of injured victims going on to seek compensation is in decline.
Lee Hart, a partner at national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP, says too many victims of catastrophic injury are being left without support or compensation, despite being harmed by entirely preventable failures.
“APIL’s report is extremely concerning and paints a picture of injured people left to recover from often life-altering accidents with little help, support or financial compensation,” said Lee.
“It seems many victims aren’t accessing a lawyer for their serious injuries. At Clarke Willmott we champion these individuals. Compensation isn’t just about justice or making someone pay, it’s about accessing the right support and rehabilitation to rebuild your life.”
Clarke Willmott’s serious injury and clinical negligence teams regularly act for clients who have experienced life-altering injuries due to avoidable errors. In the NHS these are termed ‘never events’ - they should never have happened.
“One of our clients endured months of pain after giving birth via caesarean section, only to discover that surgical forceps had been mistakenly left inside her abdomen,” added Vanessa Harris, a clinical negligence lawyer at Clarke Willmott.
“She needed emergency surgery and part of her bowel was removed after the forceps pierced her small intestine.
“Shockingly, the hospital had been alerted to the missing instrument days after the procedure but failed to act. She is still living with ongoing pain and complications as a result.”
The APIL polling found one in five UK adults had been harmed by someone else’s negligence, yet 41% hadn’t claimed, leaving around 4.3 million potential victims without legal support.
Lee continued: “Bridging these ‘justice gaps’ isn’t easy and there’s not one solution to fix all. Legal barriers, financial restraints, delays in the court system and victims being unaware of their rights all play a part in people not accessing the representation they need.
“Sustaining a serious injury such as limb loss, a spinal cord injury or a brain injury is life changing and it not only affects the victim themselves but also their families.
“Rehabilitation is at the heart of what we do. We help clients access neuropsychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, assistive technology experts, and more to ensure they get the best treatment to restore their quality of life and independence as far as possible.”
This year APIL’s Injury Awareness Week focuses on needless injuries. Just some of the cases the personal injury team at Clarke Willmott has worked on include:
A factory which did not put a cover over a foot operated pedal which meant a power press operated when someone accidentally stood on it – causing someone repairing the machine to lose their arm
A driver on their mobile phone who crashed into a stationary lorry causing a brain injury to his passenger
A company that had let a cherry picker fall into disrepair and made an employee use a ladder instead which gave way and caused him multiple orthopaedic injuries
A foundry that had a system of just letting long heavy tools stand against a wall rather than placing them in a box or behind a band – and one fell onto the head of a worker thus causing a brain injury
A van driver who executed a u-turn quickly and without signalling having failed to see a motorcyclist and caused a brain injury
A company that disposed of hazardous chemicals by leaving them outside their premises for the bin men to collect – and a child ended up badly burnt as a result
The serious injury team at Clarke Willmott is highly experienced in dealing with life changing and complex injury cases and are regularly ranked as some of the best in their field.
Clarke Willmott is a national law firm with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.
