Here's where you can find out what news stories we've been mentioned in, what sort of things we've been talking about, what's been on our minds, what we've been supporting. In short, anything that warrants a Fletchers mention! Dip in.
Recent statistics from NHS England have shown that the NHS has come under unmitigated pressure earlier than ever this year as winter starts to set in, particularly in their Accident and Emergency departments.
Ajith has been working in our Medical Negligence department since January of this year. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University and is currently studying his LPC and Masters at the University of Law.
Joanne joined our RTA department 18 months ago after studying as a mature student at Lancaster University. She graduated in 2008 and went on to complete her LPC in 2009, all whilst looking after her three children.
Nicola joined us in 2011 after graduating from Leeds Metropolitan University in Law. She went on to complete her LPC over a year and a half part-time at the University of Law in Manchester. We caught up with Nicola to ask her about her role and what she hopes to achieve in the future.
James has worked at Fletchers for just over two years and has just been offered one of our Period of Recognised Training Contracts. He works in our Medical Negligence department, working on some of our most high value complex cases, progressing from initial acceptance call to completion of the claim.
We were delighted this month to announce the successful candidates in our ‘Period of Recognised Training’ (PORT) – previously known as Training Contracts. Big congratulations to Nikki, Jo, Ajith and James!
Giving birth is the most common reason to be admitted to hospital in England. The birth of a child should be one of the happiest and most memorable occasions of your life – but what happens if you are not given the help and support you need from a trained professional? There is one apparent issue in maternity care; there simply are not enough midwives.
Fletchers Solicitors, one of the UK’s leading clinical negligence and serious injury law firms, has donated the contents of its library to Edge Hill University. The law firm, based in Southport, has handed over 600 books to the university, many of them textbooks that students can use to learn about significant legal cases and refer back to in their academic projects.
A report by the Patient Association has found that half of the 1,200 people surveyed felt that their quality of care would be compromised if they made a complaint and almost as many said that their complaint was badly handled when complaining to the NHS.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned that some A&E and maternity departments are so understaffed that patients are being put at risk.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has recently announced that the NHS will be bringing in an extra 260 doctors to help ease the pressures on accident and emergency services over winter.
Fletchers Solicitors recently sponsored a ball in aid of the North West Regional Spinal Injury Centre, who provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to those who have suffered a spinal cord injury.
Thousands of NHS frontline staff have recently staged a strike over pay for the first time in over 30 years.
GP out-of-hours care is getting better, but inspectors have warned that improvements are still needed.
For the first time in a decade every patient will get a GP that is accountable for their care, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced.
Following the public inquiry into the failings at Stafford Hospital, there was a huge drive to promote whistleblowing on malpractice in the NHS.
When placing the care of family members into the hands of professionals, you could be forgiven for thinking that their every need will be catered for in a safe and comfortable environment. However, sometimes these standards are not met and it may be unclear who you can turn to.
A recent study has found that some patients have gained consciousness during surgery. It is thought that in the UK and Ireland, more than 300 patients a year have felt some level of ‘awareness’ during an operation.
Each pregnancy and birth is different and every experience is an extremely special event, both for the parents and their families. If the mother or baby sustains injuries or health problems during the birthing process, this could be a result of medical negligence should be investigated as soon as possible. At Fletchers Solicitors we are here to support you through the process of making a claim of negligence as we know the whole experience can be very upsetting and stressful.
Doctors who make mistakes while delivering care to patients could face stronger punishments under wide-ranging new proposals to improve the healthcare system for patients.
A spinal injury charity, that Fletchers is proud to support, has helped a 15 year old boy build up his confidence after he was left in a wheelchair following a serious accident.
A heart surgeon has recently warned that by publishing the performance tables for individual surgeons, doctors could be deterred from taking on high-risk procedures.
One in three British people have admitted to feeling confused after leaving their GP’s surgery following an appointment.
Following the appointment of Mark Parr to the Leadership Team, we have further strengthened our senior management team with the employment of a new Finance Director.
GP surgeries in England are at breaking point with warnings that patients will be turned away over 50 million times in 2015 if changes aren’t made.
It has recently been revealed that the amount paid out in damages by the NHS has tripled in the past year, under the Conservative government.
We are delighted to announce that we have appointed Mark Parr to strengthen our Leadership team and Road Traffic Accident offering with an internal promotion heading up our Road Traffic Accident departments.
Leading health figures have predicted that the NHS will require an additional 30bn in funding by 2020, to maintain current standards of care in the face of an increasing ageing population.
New government plans could see GPs who fail to spot the signs of cancer named publicly.
NHS staff could be sent to jail if found guilty of ‘wilfully neglecting’ patients ahead of recent changes to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.
The NHS has been named as the best healthcare system in the world by a panel of international experts, over other countries that spend considerably more on healthcare.
Setting off from the Walton Centre to the end of the first day of cycling, here’s how Rob Fletcher and his team are getting on so far…
A class of children from a local school gathered yesterday to bid ‘au revoir’ to the intrepid team of cyclists set to take on Mont Ventoux in aid of the charity’s Home from Home Appeal.
The NHS has come under fire for failing young people with complex and longterm health problems during the transition to adult services, in a new report published by the Care Quality Commission.
The Daily Star has featured the story of one of our clients, Mrs Baker, who received over 70,000 in compensation after she underwent surgery on her spine without realising it was not the procedure she had signed up for.
There is a debate at the moment about whether normal medical treatment is enough to meet the needs of patients, or whether we should be experimenting with radical new ‘experimental’ treatment.
We recently carried out some research which found that NHS frontline staff are spending more of their time dealing with patient complaints rather than concentrating on delivering vital care and treatment because bosses are failing to adequately deal with people’s grievances.
With the recent NHS Change Day taking place, employees and users of the NHS have pledged to make a positive difference to the organisation.
Around half of all deaths in England happen in hospitals so you’d expect an extremely high level of care from hospital staff in a patient’s last moments. But recent research has found that some dying patients do not receive proper care and are not treated with dignity in many NHS hospitals around the country.
Recent reports from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons suggest that cosmetic surgery is ‘booming’ in the UK, with procedures such as breast augmentation, liposuction and tummy tucks remaining some of the more popular surgeries.
The birth of a new baby is a very special time for the whole family, however if things go wrong during the birth this happiness can be taken away in an instant. If the baby or mother is harmed due to medical negligence, a claim for compensation can be made to help overcome the adversity and alleviate the stress it can cause.
The Daily Mail featured the story of Jamie Lewis, now 23, who is unable to use his left arm since birth due to medical errors.
A review into the performance of the NHS has found that the NHS in England is continuing to perform slightly better than the other UK nations, but the gap is getting smaller.
With the NHS facing a 30 billion deficit by 2020, there are many opinions about what needs to be done to ensure it has enough funding to be able to deliver the best in patient care.
Rob Fletcher, Chairman of Fletchers Solicitors is set to take on his toughest challenge yet. He will be cycling the length of France as well as taking on the Tour de France’s most notorious mountain to finish, alongside six other participants all in the name of charity.
Following his portrayal of Nick Tilsley and his turbulent year battling with a brain injury on Coronation Street, Headway Preston and Chorley are delighted to welcome Ben Price as a patron of the charity.
The NHS complaints system has come under fire again, this time from the patients watchdog, after it was revealed that up to 75 different types of organisations have a role in the complaints process.
This week it’s been reported that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is to refuse a one per cent pay rise for over 1.3 million NHS workers, including nurses, paramedics, midwives and managers.
London is one of the most famous cities in the world and there’s a reason that visitors flock there from all around the globe.
Once again it’s almost time for NHS Change Day, when employees and users of our health service focus on pledges designed to make a positive difference to the organisation. The campaign itself has a nice story behind it, having grown from the grassroots rather than being a PR stunt designed by people in suits. But is it enough?
Winter is well and truly with us and as usual it brings with it a legion of skiers and snowboarders jetting off to spend a week or two on the slopes. Most of them will wear ski helmets but some of them won’t, despite the recent publicity that’s resulted from Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher’s accident whilst skiing in the French Alps.
One of the founding principles of the NHS is that patients should have an active say in how its services are run. Written into its constitution is the commitment that the “system of responsibility and accountability for taking decisions in the NHS should be transparent and clear to the public, patients and staff.”
To say that the NHS had a bad time of it in 2013 is putting it mildly considering the wave of negativity which threatened to engulf it as the year wore on. Scandals about lack of resources, funding, whistleblowing and the type of individual cases of negligence which we see at Fletchers all made the headlines and it could be argued that the NHS finished the year in worse shape than ever before. So is it right to think that the only way is up? Can things get any worse or have we reached rock bottom?
