Stuart Andrews

This week saw a tragic news report about the death of a mother of two from uterine leiomyosarcoma. She had reported symptoms of extreme pain and heavy prolonged periods to her GP for approximately 5 years prior to the cancer diagnosis. Receiving a...

It was reported on the 20 March 2023 that a 52-year-old man was left in a critical condition at Ocean Beach Amusement Park in South Shields after a workplace accident that left him with serious head injuries. The incident has been reported to the HSE...

April is Limb Loss Awareness Month. This is an event run by various charities to raise awareness about living with limb loss and supporting amputees in a community setting by ensuring that they have the access to the correct support system....

It was recently reported that the NHS is facing a mass exodus of GPs in England. Official data was quoted showing that 23% of family doctors are 55 years or over and will be looking to retire within the next few years, with the average retirement age being...

Michel Roccati made international news for being the first person, with a completely severed spinal cord, to regain the ability to walk. This was made possible by ground-breaking advancements in medical technology which will hopefully lead the way in...

This week the BBC reported that more than 13,000 patients a year are having NHS funding for their palliative care withdrawn after living longer than expected. In addition, other patients were having their continuing healthcare support replaced with more...

During the Covid 19 pandemic, we have seen a rise in people abandoning their cars and public transport in favour of bicycles as their preferred mode of transport to work. Last year, the Government encouraged this by offering a £2 billion package to...

A Midlands neurosurgeon has been prevented from performing complex surgery following negligent treatment. Mr Hussein El-Maghraby is a consultant neurosurgeon at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust and the private Woodland Hospital in...

The latest changes to the Civil Procedure Rules come into force on 1 October 2020. One of the most notable changes is an addition to Practice Direction 35 which relates to the Statement of Truth provided by experts and assessors in their expert reports. ...

I am indebted to Gordon Exall and his recent blog reviewing the Secret Barrister’s second book “Fake Law”. Gordon observes that the book looks at many of the misconceptions surrounding the legal system including the way in which the...

What is an Interim Payment? An interim payment is where part of a Claimant’s compensation or settlement is advanced to them earlier in the process, before final judgement or full and final settlement being reached. In ...

The basic principle for recovery of compensation in personal injury and medical negligence cases is to put the injured person back in the position they would have been in if the accident/negligence did not occur. For example, if the Claimant suffered a...

Most personal injury claims involve physical injuries such as soft tissue injuries, broken bones, scarring, head injuries and other obvious and visible injuries. But what about the injuries which we are unable to see? Provided medical evidence supports...

Personal Injury claims give rise to many novel and complex legal arguments. There is a common misconception that liability disputes in such claims are easily resolved and that prevailing theory has led over the years to increasingly restrictive fixed...

The Ogden Tables are prepared by the Government Actuary’s Department and assist personal injury lawyers and the Courts with calculating lump sum compensation for future loss and expenses. These actuarial tables include...

The Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to a renewed appreciation of our NHS. I along with many of you, have been out on my balcony at 8pm every Thursday clapping for our carers with much gusto and gratitude. Indeed, I am very grateful for their hard work...

The Claimant was widowed following a tragic accident on a construction site . Her husband had been working for a scaffolding company contracted to erect scaffolding in order that a fragile roof could be replaced. Whilst working on the roof, the...

Even if you have been fortunate enough to have never been involved in a road traffic accident , the chances are you may know someone who has. Whilst most road traffic accident claims are often straightforward in terms of proving who is liable for the...

On 1 June 2020, the Ministry of Justice published the following statement: - “Due to the impact of Covid-19, the Bank of England reduced the base rate to 0.1% on 19 March 2020 as an emergency measure and made a decision on 7 May 2020 to maintain...

We are happy to announce that on the 14 February 2020, we will be holding a raffle to raise funds for the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA). The SIA provide assistance to anyone who has been touched by spinal cord injury. Their ultimate goal is to enable...

Hundreds of families are coming forward after a report from an investigation for NHS Improvement was leaked outlining the failings of the maternity ward from 1979 until present at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust. The said failings resulted in a...

During day four of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, Australia’s leading batsman, Steve Smith, was hit in the neck by a bouncer from England’s Jofra Archer at a speed of over 90 mph. Smith was assisted off the ground by medical staff,...

This week is Action for Brain Injury Week which is an annual event organised by Headway, a leading charity supporting brain injured people. This year’s theme is to raise awareness of fatigue which is a common symptom for those with brain injury. It...

Last month, breast surgeon Ian Paterson was found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent after being accused of carrying out a series of unnecessary operations. Any surgery carries risks and so to have undergone the same when it was not required and to...

A few days ago it was reported that an 11 year old girl had tragically died from injuries sustained after an incident on the Splash Canyon water ride at Drayton Manor Park. Our thoughts and condolences go out to her family, friends and teachers at what...

Bell Lax adds to Personal Injury team Posted March 16, 2017 Stuart Andrews and Maria Rani have joined Bell Lax’s successful Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Team. ...

On 20 th March 2017, the government finally adjusted the Discount Rate used for the calculation of future loss claims in personal injury and clinical negligence claims. This had remained at 2.5% for 16 years but has now been changed by the Lord...