Serious injuries: securing early rehabilitation

Traumatic injuries to the brain or spine can be sustained in a variety of ways, such as in a road traffic collision, at work, while playing sport or during an assault. A necessity for clients with a serious traumatic brain and spinal injury, regardless of its cause, is prompt access to rehabilitation and support services.

Throughout my work, I have been able to see the transformative impact of early rehabilitation for clients in practical terms. In this article, I hope to examine the practical steps taken to secure rehabilitation, and the importance of doing so at outset without delay.

Early Rehabilitation

The evidence is clear - a seriously injured client who has the benefit of access to early rehabilitation will make a better recovery and therefore require less support overall in the long-term. 

This may also make returning to work after the injury a possibility. This is clearly and most importantly beneficial for the client, but it's also helpful to consider that a defendant has a vested interest in actively collaborating with regards to rehabilitation. If a client makes a better recovery, the defendant will pay less damages overall in the event of successful conclusion of the claim.

For these reasons, the guidance documents which generally apply in serious injury claims - Rehabilitation Code and Serious Injury Guide - both promote and reflect the importance of a collaborative approach towards early rehabilitation, which is often put into place before liability is admitted.

The Rehabilitation Code is a framework under which a defendant is invited to fund the process of completion of an Immediate Needs Assessment and the initial early rehabilitation in a collaborative approach. If the case fails later on, a defendant isn't permitted to recoup any of the costs under the code, unless fraud or fundamental dishonesty is proved. 

The code sets out timeframes for communication between the parties at outset. The framework is voluntary, but its use should be considered for all types of personal injury claims, regardless of their value or complexity.

The Serious Injury Guide is aimed at cases with a value of over £250,000 which will involve an element of future continuing loss, such as ongoing loss of earnings, childcare, personal care or therapy needs. Again, this sets out guidance and a timeframe for notifying a defendant, their response, and the request for rehabilitation.

The below shows how these guidance documents come to life in practical terms.

Notification 

After we have been properly instructed and also considered the client’s rehabilitation needs at the earliest possible stage, a defendant is notified in a formal Letter of Claim. With the aim to secure rehabilitation as quickly as possible, the Letter of Claim will often be a brief document with the overall aim to inform a defendant of our representation, an overview of the accident circumstances and injuries sustained as well as a clear request and invitation for the defendant to collaborate with rehabilitation from outset, in accordance with the Rehabilitation Code and Serious Injury Guide. Under the Rehabilitation Code, a defendant should respond to this request within 21 days.