Action for Brain Injury Week

The brain is the most important organ in the human body. Brain awareness week serves to raise awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research.

At Biscoes Solicitors, we have a number of departments in which our specialist solicitors come into contact with clients with brain injuries or where a person lack capacity to make their own decisions regarding their health or finances. These could include:

• Personal injury and medical negligence;
• Mental health;
• Court of protection; and
• Will, trusts and probate.

What is the brain?

The human brain is the central organ of the human nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brain stem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the activities of the body, processing, integrating, and coordinating the information it receives from the sense organs, and making decisions as to the instructions sent to the rest of the body.

The brain is divided into several lobes:

• Frontal lobes – managing responses or problem solving, judgement and motor function;
• Parietal lobes – managing sensation, handwriting and body position;
• Temporal lobes –  managing memory and hearing; and
• Occipital lobes – managing the visual processing system.

How is the brain affected after an injury?

Injury to the brain can manifest in many ways. Traumatic brain injury, for example received after a fall, a traffic or work accident or through medical negligence, can be associated with both immediate and longer-term problems. Immediate problems may include bleeding within the brain which may compress the brain tissue or damage its blood supply. 

Bruising to the brain may also occur and cause widespread damage to the nerve tracts that can lead to a condition of diffuse axonal injury. A fractured skull, injury to a particular area, deafness, and concussion are also possible immediate developments. Longer-term issues that may develop include posttraumatic stress disorder, and hydrocephalus. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy can develop following multiple head injuries

Why might you need a solicitor if you have suffered a brain injury?

If you, or someone you know, has suffered a brain injury arising from some form of negligence, then obtaining the advice of a specialist solicitor can be very important. You may need compensation to fund future care and assistance, aids and adaptations to you home vehicle or case managers to assist in coordinating your rehabilitation.

Following an accident, fall or medical negligence which leads to a brain injury, the victim may also lack capacity to make decision about their care and finances. Under the Mental Capacity Act:

“… a person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the function of, the mind or brain.”

It further states that a person is unable to make a decision for himself if he is unable to understand that information relevant to a decision, retain that information, use or weigh that information as part of the process of making the decision or communicate his decision.

Biscoes Solicitors can assist clients in making compensation claims arising form Personal injury and medical negligence, obtain lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), assist with deputyship or assist where someone has been detained under a Section of the Mental Health Act.

Johnathan Steventon-Kiy, specialist medical negligence lawyer, says:

“Our specialist solicitors have assisted many individuals and their families whether it be for compensations claims, deputyships or lasting powers of attorney applications (LPAs). We a full service law firm and therefore can offer our clients a “one-stop shop” of services for all their legal needs.”

Contact our specialist solicitors on 0800 413 463 or visit www.biscoes-law.co.uk for more information. You can also follow us on twitter using the handle @biscoesmedneg