During this Acquired Brain Injury Awareness Week we would like to focus everyone’s attention on the support available not just to survivors of severe and very severe traumatic brain injury but also those that have experienced what medical professionals classify as mild to moderate traumatic brain injury.
Survivors of severe or very severe brain injuries are often cared for in major trauma centres. Part of their care should include a comprehensive discharge plan that includes recommendations for rehabilitation to help them address the long-term impairments or disabilities that may have been caused by their injury. Sadly, this is not always the case for survivors of less severe injuries even though they may also be suffering from significant cognitive and behavioural impairments.
The benefit of early support and rehabilitation
With brain injury, accessing the right rehabilitation support early and ideally within the first six months post injury can make a significant difference to outcome. Our brains demonstrate most neuroplasticity in the first weeks to months following a brain injury. The brain is most capable of adapting, relearning skills and compensating for damaged areas during this time. With the right rehabilitation, survivors can relearn vital skills, regain independence, and improve their overall quality of life.
But access to timely and tailored rehabilitation often depends on more than just medical need – it depends on resources, coordination, and advocacy.
Legal support as a gateway to care
One of the often-overlooked avenues for unlocking early and comprehensive support is through legal action. If the brain injury resulted from someone else’s negligence – such as in a road traffic accident, workplace incident, or medical error, like sepsis and meningitis negligence – engaging a specialist clinical negligence or personal injury lawyer can make a profound difference.
The primary goal of a claim is to secure compensation. However, best outcome for the client requires the exploration of funding for rehabilitative, medical and therapeutic interventions and to provide the care and financial support they need to put back their lives as close as possible to where they would have been had their injury not happened. This of course is neither easy nor straightforward.
The right solicitor will fully understand the needs and priorities of their client and help to meet them. That generally means acting as a critical bridge to care, securing funds from the defendant to enable the client to get an early assessment of their needs to identify urgent rehab and support requirements. That in turn will enable them to benefit as much as possible from the increased neuroplasticity following the early period post injury. Likewise, it can include accessing interim payments, giving families immediate financial relief for private therapy, equipment or much needed home adaptations. It usually involves appointing a case manager and a multi-disciplinary team around the client to ensure they have a structured and well managed rehab and care package tailored to their individual needs.
Why specialist legal representation matters
Sadly, a lot of this care and support is not available to people unless they access it privately and the costs of doing so are very significant. When someone can access the support through a compensation claim they can often get better and more timely access to treatment.
Acquired Brain Injury cases are complex, both medically and legally. Generalist lawyers may not fully grasp the nuances of cognitive impairment, long-term care planning, or the evolving needs of survivors (like in cerebral palsy cases). Specialist lawyers, however, bring in-depth understanding and networks of expert witnesses, rehabilitation providers, and case managers.
Appointing the right legal team early on ensures that no time is lost in starting essential services. In many cases, lawyers can secure early rehabilitation packages under the Rehabilitation Code, even before a full settlement is reached.
How we can help
At Enable Law we have a dedicated acquired brain injury team. This means we have clinical negligence, personal injury and mental capacity solicitors whose main role is to provide legal advice to ABI survivors and their families. This expertise translates into better outcomes both in terms of being able to successfully bring complex claims but also in terms of ensuring clients and their families have all the support they need to reclaim their lives as much as possible and achieve the things that matter to them the most.
To have a free confidential discussion with a member of our team call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form so we can give you a call back at a time convenient to you.
