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A recent report showed that during 2011, the General Medical Council (GMC) the organisation that manage, register, and licenses doctors practicing medicine in the UK, received a total of 8,781 complaints from patients

The three most commonly reported types of complaint were related to:

• concerns with investigations and treatment, such as failure to diagnose or prescribing inappropriate medications
• problems with communication – such as not providing appropriate information or not responding to people’s concerns
• perceived lack of respect for the patient – such as being rude or dishonest

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Claiming for an injury is often something that nobody knows they will do; after all, an accident is by definition something you did not mean or want to do. However, if you have been affected and make the decision to pursue a claim an important part of this is, of course, is making sure you have a solicitor that will get you the maximum amount of compensation you deserve.

Now, claiming for compensation gets bad press sometimes – however an injury caused by an accident can have devastating consequences; for example, you suffer from loss of earnings or in serious cases you can no longer pursue the career you were heading for. Of course this is a main concern for many, however there are others such as medical and travel expenses that start to mount the longer your rehabilitation time is.

So how is compensation calculated? Basically, the compensation you are awarding depends upon how serious your injury is and how long this will affect your everyday life. For example; if your injury is going to affect you for the rest of your life, you are entitled to more compensation than someone who’s injury will be fully recovered in a couple of years (generally speaking).
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It is a question that many people want to know and a question which we are asked time and time again. In terms of how long a claim will take from us taking it on to you receiving a settlement cheque, it is always difficult to say as it depends on a number of factors.

We as a firm pride ourselves on being efficient; we move cases forward as quickly as possible. However, to an extent we do rely on others such as insurance companies, the courts, medical experts etc.

A claim is likely to go through quicker if liability is not an issue and if the symptoms are relatively minor so only one medical report is required. However every case is different and at the outset any time frames given by any Solicitor would be effectively a guess.
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One of the worst parts about being injured after an accident can be the need to rely on those around you to be able to perform the simplest of everyday activities. This can also not be the most convenient set-up for those helping as sacrifices may have to be made – such as time off work. So can this be included in your claim for compensation? Simply put: Yes!

In your claim we look to recover what are called special damages and these include things such as loss of earnings, medical expenses, travel expenses and the subject at hand – care and assistance.

A common miss-conception is that only professional care and assistance can be recovered; but help from family and friends is also recoverable.
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Turning 17, these days, just means one thing – you can now learn to drive! The independence, the freedom, and the confidence that can come with driving makes learning to drive one of the most beneficial things to do. As a driver myself, I often say to people who are looking to start learning that it will be the best thing they ever invest time and money in.

The requirements of learning to drive are quite simple:

• You must hold a provisional driving licence
• You must be supervised when driving by a driving instructor or someone over the age of 21 who has held a full driving license for at least 3 years
• You must display “L” plates

Your driving instructor or supervisor has a duty to ensure that you are driving in a safe manner and therefore learner drivers should feel in safe hands when learning to drive: but the person sitting next to you in the car is not normally the problem.
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Being involved in a road traffic accident is not a very nice experience. If you have sustained injury as a result of a road traffic accident which was not your fault then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Road traffic accidents can occur in many different circumstances.

I am not surprised by the number of road traffic accidents, just drive during the rush hour and you can see why there are so many accidents on Britain’s roads. Most days I see people driving while on a mobile phone, driving too fast or driving too close to the car in front. It is maddening when you see this kind of driving behaviour. It is easy to become annoyed and this can make the situation worse as you should be calm and attentive while driving.

Typical accidents include rear end shunts and accidents at roundabouts. Accidents can also be caused as a result of vehicles changing lanes. Road traffic accidents can of course be fatal. You can bring a claim whether you were the driver of a vehicle or a passenger. In fact if you were a passenger then it could be said that it is more straightforward as it is difficult to see how a passenger could ever be at fault for a road traffic accident.
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So what does the term quantum actually mean? Quantum in law essentially means value. Every day we get asked questions along the lines of “How much compensation will I receive?” and “What’s the value of my claim?”

The first point to note is that it’s impossible to value a claim at the outset – any value given by Solicitors at this stage is an approximate – for example if your injury sounds like a general whiplash injury you may hear figures of £1,500 to £2,000 being talked about.

However, in reality, it’s impossible to properly value a claim at the outset as the value of a claim depends on the injuries sustained and the effect of the injuries on the Claimant’s life.
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You may not be surprised to hear that whiplash claims are one of the most common types of personal injury claims. Whiplash claims unfortunately seem to attract a lot of bad press as well.

However anyone who has ever suffered a whiplash type injury will know that whiplash can cause a great deal of pain, discomfort and inconvenience. Whiplash is a genuine injury and an injury which is compensatable in law. I believe the main difficulty or the reason why whiplash claims receives such a bad press is due to the perceived difficulty in diagnosing the condition.

If you have sustained whiplash following a road traffic accident then it is your right to claim compensation.
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A moped is a motorcycle that has a maximum design speed of approximately 31 miles per hour and can be driven on the road at the age of 16 with a provisional licence and “L” plates. Making these vehicles extremely popular with teenagers. They are a perfect for teenagers who are starting to gain their independence.

However, as with motorcycles, they are involved in a high number of accidents on the road. How, if they can only go 31mph? Well the answer is that mainly mopeds are involved in accidents due to other road users who are not looking and checking mirrors properly.

The main scenarios include vehicles pulling out of a side road into a moped which is correctly proceeding on the main road, vehicles pulling out of stationary traffic whilst a moped is attempting to overtake the stationary traffic, and vehicles changing lanes when a moped is travelling at the side of them.
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When you think of serious injuries, most people think fractures – but damaging your ligaments can be equally as devastating, as I am all too familiar with myself! You think breaking your leg is bad? Try rupturing several ligaments in your knee requiring you to undergo a multi ligament reconstruction operation! Anyway – to define, a ligament is a soft fibrous tissue that connects bone to bone. You have them all over the body – and the famous ones to injure (for the footballers out there) are the dreaded cruciates!

There are several ways you can injure ligaments. In many cases, ligaments are stretched beyond their normal range of movement, and you end up with pain, swelling, stiffness, and the usual muscular related symptoms that will normally die down over time. However, things get a little more serious when you tear or rupture ligaments.

A torn ligament is exactly what you’re thinking – the tissue is torn; normally due to an overstretch far beyond the capacity the tissue has to stretch. Torn ligaments can be very painful – you will normally know when you’ve done it! The pain is normally enough to warrant you needing to see a GP or a medical expert, so you can usually get a diagnosis from them. For many torn ligaments – in the leg in the arm – after a few weeks or months you are commonly back to normal. However, some crucial tears like knee ligaments or elbow ligaments may require an operation.
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