Livberpool Care Pathway

Experts are again speaking out to demand the highest possible level of supervision for patients on the Liverpool Care Pathway.

Under the pathway patients can be denied water or nutrition, may be heavily sedated, denied treatment to prolong life and not be given unecessary tests or treatment. The pathway was designed in the 1990's to ease the distress of the last hours of the dying patient and presently requires only one duty doctor to approve it's use.

Twenty bodies including Royal College of Practioners, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Nursing, Age UK and the Alzheimer's Society are now calling for a change to be made whereby at least two medical staff, one of whom should be the most senior on duty should assess the patients. Help should be sought from all staff involved in the patients care as it is not always easy to to tell whether someone is very close to death. They also added people should be involved in decisions about their care and families and carers should be included in the decision making.

Sedative Addiction

More than a million patients are taking potentially harmful tranquillisers.
Some patients have been taking them for more than 20 years. Psychiatrists say that some patients are often begging for repeat prescriptions or buying them from illegal websites.

Benzodiazepines, which include temazepam and diazepam have also been found to increase the risk of dementia by 50 per cent even when taken for short periods.

Guidlines say that benzodiazepines should only be used for the maxium of one month many users are becoming dependent.

Failing Hip Implants for Women

Surgeons have warned that women should no longer be offered hip resurfacing because failure rates are unacceptably high.

Women who have had hip resurfacing are up to five times more likely to need a second operation and one in ten suffer further problems including pain and infection.

Resurfacing is offered as an alternative to hip replacement for younger people and involves placing metal caps into the hip socket whereas hip replacement involves fitting a new joint made from either ceramic, metal, or plastic.

Research published in the Lancet medical journal found that the smaller head sizes used for women were linked to higher failure rates.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Bethan Parry who has recently qualified as a solicitor, having completed her training contract with Graystons Solicitors.http://www.graystons.co.uk/index.php/bethan-parry-legal-assistant.html

Removal of Legal Aid from Clinical Negligence Cases

Legal Aid was introduced to help people on a limited budget who meet the eligibility requirements to gain access to the courts. It was set up in 1949 to help people who would otherwise not be able to afford it to get a fair hearing and resolve problems.

In June 2011 the Ministry of Justice announced cutbacks in Legal Aid. These included removeing Legal Aid from Clinical Negligence cases, effectively preventing some of the most needy and deserving victims from getting the justice and financial help that they deserve.

Despite attempts from Sound of for Justice and other similar groups to stop cutback the act will come into forse in April 2013. Legal Aid will continue for anyone who has already been granted a certificate but no further new applications will be accepted after this date.

Julie Grayston says " if you think you have a claim contact us as soon as possible. We will help you to find out if you have a valid claim and whether you qualify for Legal Aid before time runs out".

Cervical cancer vaccine

The government has changed its mind over which vaccine to supply to teenage girls since the introduction in 2008.

The UK government may have chosen the least cost-effective vaccine to immunise teenage girls against viruses that cause cervical cancer, a data study suggests.

In 2008, the Department of Health picked the cheaper of two options - a vaccine called Cervarix.

But the Health Protection Agency (HPA) concludes that a different vaccine, Gardasil, could provide better value.

Cervarix would need to be £19 to £35 cheaper to match Gardasil's payback.

Although it is not known what deal the government was able to strike with GSK, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Cervarix, the NHS list price for the drug is £80.50 per dose.

Graystons Solicitors is concerned that the wrong decision was made initially and is pleased that the government has now decided to vaccinate young girls with Gardasil. We hope that the girls vaccinated in the mean time do not suffer any ill effects by not being protected against genital warts.

Compensation for Brain damage

The parents of Amy Smith, now 8 years old have secured a settlement of £9 million pounds in compensation for her injuries.
Amy suffered severe brain damage as a result of a lack of oxygen during her birth at Northwick Park hospital in North London..
Amy will require constant care for the rest of her life and suffers from Cerabal palsey.
The hospital accepted that it had been negligent in it's treatment of Amy. Her parents brought a personal injury claim on her behalf and the money will enable her parents to make alterations to the family home and pay for the around the clock care she requires.

Graystons Solicitors is a member of the Brain Injury Group and are able to represents claiments in this area.

Graystons holds a legal Aid certificate for clinical and medical negligence.