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I've just spent a few days with an old friend who had a serious brain injury nearly 3 years ago. He is a complex character who's had some tragedy recently, and has other physical issues including early Parkinson's. He is not able to work again but does live independently.
He's just agreed a compensation sum, it should be with him in the next couple of weeks.
Apart from the immediate aftermath he's not used NHS services for his brain injury or mental health recovery.
For the last couple of years he's had significant private therapy - he currently has 5 different psychology, occupational therapy, speech and language etc. He had not understood that this was coming out of his claim (I question his ability to understand this due to his injury and the fact he signed up to this team just 3 months after the incident).
He now has a proposal for nearly £40k for just six months of ongoing treatment with this team This seems huge, and means his settlement will be completely spent on medical costs in 8 years. He's only got PIP beyond this as an income.
I've read his final claim document and medical reports fully.
He's asked myself and another friend to be trustees of a financial trust to help manage the money. He seems to have an excellent solicitor and financial advisor, both of whom have also voiced concern over the medical costs.
I've suggested he needs to go to GP and also speak to his local Headway charity ASAP, and we drew up some questions together yesterday for them.
We've endlessly discussed the benefit the professionals can bring ongoing vs the seriously high costs and I feel ill equipped to advise him.
Any insight or further help would be appreciated.
He seems to have an excellent solicitor
Seems a little at odds with
He had not understood that this was coming out of his claim (I question his ability to understand this due to his injury and the fact he signed up to this team just 3 months after the incident).
Was the injury following medical negligence or an accident. I know of at least one medical negligence specialist on here.
Definitely speak with someone like headway, be interesting to know if was any mental capacity assessments performed at time of signing up. Obviously depends on degree of injury and cognitive impairment.
Also worth him seeing if there's a local neuro rehab hospital to talk to, they will likely ha e some sort of patient advocacy service can signposted to.
He was flattened off his bike at a junction. The driver looked left and pulled out in a hurry, but didn't see my friend in his bike waiting to turn out right.
The solicitor is different from the claim team and case handling team - the solicitor is partner in the firm he's used for his divorce.
He's in Lancaster and there does some to be some NHS community provision - but that's why I've said he needs to go to GP and ask about things.
If there is a query regarding his ability to make decisions related to finance as you have suggested, I would be mindful of that in light of this:
He’s asked myself and another friend to be trustees of a financial trust to help manage the money. He seems to have an excellent solicitor and financial advisor, both of whom have also voiced concern over the medical costs
Consider getting some advice from an expert in mental capacity, that may well be through headway.
Mental capacity assessments under the mental capacity act are “decision specific” and the ability to understand, retain, weigh up and communicate that decision.
Awful situation for him, glad he has you and others to help him navigate. Good luck.
If your friend has suffered a no fault injury the compensation claim should be for on going, loss of earnings, adaption for lifestyle and medilcal expenses, each should be taken and a separate field.
I would get a personal injury specialist to look at the claim, as the insurance company's in my experience look at monetary side of things and seriously under estimate costs in their favour.
Well done you are doing the right thing for your friend. As as aside if he has been diagnosed with a brain injury he is now classed vulnerable and should be treated more fairly.
These costs will probably go on for a life time and only get more expensive really push for this, as although the NHS is excellent as you have already seen private health care can get unaffordable very quickly.
I hope you friend can make a good recovery.
I would get a personal injury specialist to look at the claim,
It has been a personal injury specialist, it's all taken into account and a substantial sum (over £500k). He's 59, so loss of earnings was only until expected retirement. I've seen the calculations.
I do hope Headway can help us - I'm going to call separately from him to get advice for myself as I'm just not equipped to advise him well on this, other than I've a sense he's being taken advantage of. That's balamnced with him not being well, and not wanting to hear some advice - and how much of that is the injury....
His compensation claim for treatment costs for his injury need to reflect his cost of care for the rest of his exprcted life. This is why settlements can run into millions of pounds for the most serious cases.
This may be complicated by treatment costs due to his other needs.
His solicitors, and any potential court, need to be sure he has the mental capacity to understand what he is agreeing to.
May be different if you are up in Scotland.
My wife went through a court case for a brain injury. Very glad that her union sorted out all the legal stuff. Her case wasn’t particularly successful. However the legal team managed to get all of her private assessments paid for by the other side. These were part of the other sides costs.
I realise that this isn’t that helpful. But your back at the top.
The key is finding out what the benefits are for these ongoing treatments. It all seems very odd. Is there a statement outlining what the settlement was meant to cover
Dads brother got a payout for a brain injury. The payout was his annual care cost multiplied by her number of years he was expected to survive
Just to add, sounds like he's got a true and caring friend in you.
I'm a brain injury survivor. Surgery for a brain tumour in 2017 removed the nerve to my right ear and inner ear (so removing half my sense of balance).
After surgery, I fed through a tube, spoke in a hoarse whisper, could happily stare at a blank wall for a couple of hours without getting bored, and couldn't even stand up.
I'm sure I would have recovered to some degree unaided. I had NHS therapies for over a year: speech therapy, balance clinic, nutritionists teaching me to swallow, and general physiotherapy. In that time, each one taught me about that type of therapy, and how to do the therapy for myself after they had discharged me.
Five years later, I'm not fully recovered, but can talk, sing (badly, but no worse than before), am back working as a metallurgist in a jet engine factory (but only for 16 hours a week), eat fairly normally (slowly and with lots to drink), and can walk, run, and Morris dance. Not back to cycling, but mostly because my neurosurgeon didn't want me crashing bigtime and undoing all his good work.
It is not a controlled experiment, because there isn't another me who didn't do it, but it feels like therapy massively improved my quality of life.
Consultations
Great idea to put together a list of questions. However, the answers will probably lead to further discussion at the meeting.
* I recommend you or the other friend accompany them to the GP and Headway meetings.
I took a friend to all my medical consultations : was a second point of view, and a second memory to recall the responses. I wonder if I should have had an audio recorder too: at the first meeting with the neurosurgeon, his secretary took notes throughout, and gave us a copy: great idea.
Cost of therapy
I'm an engineer, so might be seeing this too simplistically, but it seems just like shopping. I suppose each type of private therapy is just like any other service.
* Can you find reviews of different private therapists, and each specific therapy your friend is buying?
* Could your accompany your friend whilst they try different providers of each service?
* Could you and your friend then carry out some cost/benefit analysis?
* Please explore options for NHS therapy - they are great.
Conclusion
You are a great friend. Sounds like a lot of work.
Your friend may need more help as their cognitive ability decreases: from Wikipedia, Parkinsons's disease dementia becomes common in the advanced stages of the disease.
* Please discuss power of attorney with your friend.
Headway were the only useful people when I clattered my head, it helped that there was a centre near me so I could go in to talk face to face.
I wonder if the cognitive impairment when your friend signed up to all these therapies would be sufficient grounds for re-visiting the financial settlement, ongoing treatment requires ongoing finance.
How I wish I'd had someone fighting my corner, my injury was much less serious than your friend has suffered, but the mental fog, anxiety, uncontrolled emotional swings and (rightly) loss of trust in my instincts would have made dealing with his situation an absolute impossibility. Credit to you.
I do have concern he's not able to make great decisions and hold them at present. And both Parkinson's and the injury may get worse shortly...
Please discuss power of attorney with your friend.
This is to be discussed.
I've just read everything again on here. Thank you all.
Hi- we’re part way through this with our son, just this week defendant agreed 90% liability so that’s one part over, now onto the quantum.
Happy to give more detail about some of the technicalities/specialists we’ve seen, but would rather do it via DM rather than forum.
Just stating his nighttime routine- takes a while so probably will be in a position to reply tomorrow.
Apart from the immediate aftermath he’s not used NHS services for his brain injury or mental health recovery.
I guess that’s the pro and con of having had compensation in that it allows you to access services when you want, and appears ideal. However long term it becomes very expensive!
Trouble is now he will have to go to the back of the queue so to speak, definitely worth trying to explore what he can get locally on the NHS, and then use private for the gaps
Nothing to add but my admiration and respect for you. You're a great friend.
If the injury is 3 years old he's unlikely to get good vakue for money spending 40,000 on therapsists, as there is a window of opportunity following a brain injury to make significant rehab gains, and he will be well past that. I'd be thinking about what else I could be spending that money, and letting the NHS take care of his therapy needs from now on