In the UK we are extremely lucky to have the health care that we are have been brought up with. From such a young age we have been aware that if we become ill or injured we visit our doctors and they will hopefully make us better. If we become really ill we can be referred to a hospital where doctors and nurses will do everything they can to make us better.

After recovering from an illness, doctors like to keep an eye on us, they often do this by referring us to a consultant who we pay regular visits to. They will check that we are still in good health, and are coping well with the after affects of the disease.

Although non of us like the idea of being in hospital, we like to think that if we ever need to stay in that we will be taken care of. We’ve all probably visited someone in hospital at some point in our lives, and hopefully we will have witnessed the hard work that the staff were doing to ensure everyone was safe.
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A lot of us regularly attend our local leisure centre, it is the perfect setting for an enjoyable family day out. The kids can play in the swimming pool or play area and we can sit by and watch whilst enjoying a few drinks or can join in and have fun. Either way a visit to the local leisure centre is a day out the entire family can look forward to.

The staff at leisure centres are used to working with customers of all ages, and therefore have activities aimed at a variety of age ranges. When setting up activities or carrying out building checks the duty manager on shift must make sure that there are no possible hazards.
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We have all probably used a taxi service at some point in our lives, whether it is to get home from a night out, to get to the airport or we just figured it was too cold to get the bus. Whatever the reason, the service we pay for when using a taxi is that they will get us to our destination safely.

Getting a taxi is a popular way of getting home after a night out in your city centre. There are usually a number of taxi ranks where people queue to wait for a taxi service; some taxis also hang around outside nightclubs to take party-goes home when the club shuts.

When we get in a taxi we rarely question our safety, we simply get in and tell the taxi driver the destination we want to go to. We may even start a conversation with the driver about how his nights been and if he’s been busy. But what happens if the taxi we’re in becomes involved in an accident?
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Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) is a serious condition that is caused by the narrowing of the spine. This causes the nerve roots below the level of the spinal cord to become compressed and trapped. There are many causes to CES and the narrowing of the spine, with the main one believed by medics to be an effect of surgery to the lower back. Some of the causes of CES may lead to a medical negligence claim.

Other causes of CES include:

• Spinal tumours
• Inflammatory conditions
• Infectious conditions
• Through medical intervention such as surgery
• Traumatic injury
• Slipped or prolapsed discs

When looking to diagnose CES medics use a number of red flagged symptoms:

• Has not passed urine for 6-8 hours
• Severe low back pain
• Bowel and bladder disturbance
• Saddle and genital sensory numbness
• Sciatica
• Sexual dysfunction

There are a number of reasons why there is often a delay in diagnosing a disease such as CES; the main one being the fact that it presents itself with common complaints that are also related to a number of other illnesses. Common complaints of CES are bowel, bladder and sexual problems. Doctors need to assess all possible aspects of the illness before they can successfully diagnose it.
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For many workers, suffering from asbestos poisoning seems highly unlikely, this is probably because the disease takes between 20-45 years to make itself known. For the first 20 years or so the disease gradually develops in the lung and their surrounding organs.

Asbestos as a solid material doesn’t put workers at risk, it is when the material becomes damaged. This allows it to release fibres into the air, these fibres are invisible to the human eye and if breathed in can be extremely harmful. Working near damaged asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, which may happen hundreds of times in your working life, could increase your chances of getting an asbestos-related disease.
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Going on holiday is something we all look forward to no matter how old we all. A lot us spend all year saving up to go away, especially for things such as family holidays as they can be quite pricey. Our main focus is getting the holiday paid off, the mini bus to get us to the airport booked and everyone organised. One of the things a lot of people leave to the last minute is sorting out their travel insurance.

Travel insurance is extremely important when leaving the UK, so it is essential that you choose yours carefully. It is a good idea to buy your travel insurance from a secure website, that you trust. A good travel insurance deal will cover any medical costs, any loss of baggage and compensate you for any flight cancellations.

If you do become injured on holiday medical costs can be extremely expensive, as foreign hospitals are run a different way to hospitals in the UK. That’s why you should take your travel insurance certificate away with you, or write down your reference number.
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Making sure your vehicle is well lit is extremely important to make other road uses and pedestrians aware of your presence. It is especially important now the nights are beginning to draw in. The failure to light your vehicle can cause road traffic accidents which you may be held liable for.

To ensure your vehicle is lit properly you should regularly check that all of your lights are working properly. It is best to do this in a dark area such as in a garage, if on your own, or ask someone else to check for you.  If one of the bulbs on your vehicle is broken you should get this fixed as soon as possible. If the police see unlit vehicles or vehicles with lights out on the roads they are likely to pull them over.

When looking to fix a bulb in your vehicle, there are shops that will change the lights for you. If you are unsure what bulb you need simply ask an assistant in store to help you.
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The world of compensation claims can be a confusing place for those who have become injured due to the negligence of another. Some people don’t fully understand the means of making an injury compensation claim, or what is required of them if they choose to do so; meaning they often don’t bother making one.

Millions of pounds in injury compensation go unclaimed every year because of those unsure about making a claim. If you have suffered an injury in an accident that wasn’t your fault, why should you suffer alone? Injury compensation isn’t just about the sum of money you receive; it’s about helping you move on with your life.

When you suffer injury from an accident you will probably either visit your GP or local A&E to get your injuries checked over. It is important you let medics know the circumstances of the accident you suffered these injuries in. This will then allow them to assess your injuries accurately and link them to your claim in your medical records. For example if you suffer pain in your neck and you been involved in a car accident, they should then be able to diagnose what type of whiplash injury you are suffering from.
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Given how common road accidents are, it’s never surprising to see them in the news. Whether it’s a horrific and unfortunate crash with fatalities involved, the M1 at a standstill, celebrity road antics, or just peculiar stories, they always manage to find their way on to the press headlines. We at The Injury Lawyers, as road accident specialists, are used to seeing a wide variety of claims through the door on a daily basis.

A story from BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11599203) tells of an unfortunate crash involving a man driving his car with the use of mind controlled prosthetic limb. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi film, doesn’t it? But it’s a true story:  22 year old Austrian Christian Kandlbauer is thought to be the world’s first person to pass their driving test with the use of prosthetic limbs. He tragically lost both of his arms four years ago after he was shocked by 20,000 volts, and his life was turned back around when he was provided with artificial limbs he can control with his mind.

His Subaru has been specially adapted, and he is legally qualified to drive – he was unfortunately found by a trucker in his car which had caught fire after smashing in to a tree. His condition is reportedly serious, and a police officer was reported to have said “Looking at the state of the wreck, it’s a miracle he got out at all”. A passing lorry driver was able to assist in putting the flames out and saving Mr Kandlbauer from the wreck.
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Driving whilst intoxicated, whether it is with alcohol or drugs, is extremely dangerous and illegal around the world. In English law if a person is caught drink driving they risk losing their license, paying a fine and might even have to serve a prison sentence. The government is responsible for a number of campaigns to help encourage drivers not to drink drive.

One of their campaigns is called Think! and targets drivers by showing a number of adverts either on TV, radio and billboards. It aims to prevent drivers from driving if over the limit by showing what could happen if you choose to do so.

The government say that anyone who risks driving whilst twice the legal alcohol limit is at least 30 times more likely to cause a road crash than a driver who hasn’t been drinking. They also warn the public that there is no fool-proof way of knowing whether you are over the drink drive limit; they say that it depends on a number of factors:
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