Members pitch in to spread injury awareness message |  | A grand total of 37 firms got involved in Injury Awareness Week, with 127 posts across all social media channels helping to spread the message.
More than 1,700,000 social media users saw posts about Injury Awareness Week, and more than a million people were reached with online press content.
This year, the association commissioned exclusive research from YouGov to establish the scale of injuries caused by negligence in the UK. On average, 30,000 people each week say they have been injured by negligence.
Following this research, Injury Awareness Week helped highlight the important difference between an accident and negligence, and the impact that negligence can have on people’s lives.
APIL would like to thank all members and their firms who got involved in sharing informative and though provoking content this year.
| | Second VP appointed to executive committee |  | Kim Harrison has been appointed as a second vice president of APIL by the association’s executive committee (EC).
Kim, first elected to the EC in 2019, was appointed to her new role after former vice president Jonathan Scarsbrook was elected president at the AGM in May.
To ensure there is a full team of officers to help deal with the association’s busy workload, the EC agreed to Kim’s appointment as a vice president until the 2024 AGM, in accordance with APIL’s articles of association.
She is a principal lawyer and head of operations (abuse law, human rights and public inquiries) at Slater & Gordon and joins current vice president Suzanne Trask.
| | APIL CEO repeats calls for wider remit for patient safety commissioner |  | Proposals to improve patient safety in England should include extending the remit of the patient safety commissioner, a health minister has been told.
In a letter this week to health minister Maria Caulfield, APIL chief executive Mike Benner said that extending the remit of the commissioner is the simplest, quickest, and most coherent way to improve patient safety.
Mike wrote to the minister after she told the House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee in a letter that the Government is redoubling efforts to advance patient safety.
APIL is concerned that the approach to patient safety in England is a patchwork quilt of programmes, recommendations, and reports, which has been inefficient, and which lacks coherent leadership. Mike told the minister that a patient safety commissioner with an extended remit could provide that leadership.
These concerns about the approach to patient safety now appear to be shared by the Parliamentary and Health and Service Ombudsman who, in a report on patient safety published last week (Thursday 29 June) highlighted a “confusing landscape of organisations”.
He did not go as far as to recommend a wider remit for the patient safety commissioner. But he did warn that “there are significant overlaps in functions, which creates uncertainty about who is responsible for what” which means “patient safety voice and leadership are fractured”.
| | Standard disclosure in workplace claims consultation |  | APIL is preparing a response to the latest consultation from the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) on standard disclosure in workplace claims.
The CPRC has invited views on proposed amendments to annex C of the pre-action protocol (PAP) for personal injury claims following recommendations from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
Annex C of the PAP includes considerable repetition of various types of documents for disclosure. The HSE has recommended that these should be consolidated into common categories. The CPRC proposes that this should be done by a table, which is included in the consultation document.
The CPRC believes that this would be more user-friendly than the current annex C, as it would link relevant documents to the specific allegations. There is a concern, however, that this would be an oversimplification and lead to some documents being overlooked. Members can read the full consultation here.
Members with comments on the amendments should contact APIL’s legal affairs assistant, Ana Ramos, at [email protected], by Thursday 13 July.
| | Have your say – police disclosure |  | APIL is seeking members’ experiences of disclosure of evidence by the police.
Despite College of Policing guidance which states that disclosure should take place as soon as possible, members are reporting increasing difficulties in obtaining disclosure from the police. APIL is working with members of the Serious Injury Guide Committee with a view to raising the issue with the relevant police organisations.
To assist with this work, APIL is looking for examples both from members who have struggled with obtaining disclosure from police forces, and from members who have experienced collaboration and best practice from police forces.
To share your views, contact APIL’s legal policy manager, Alice Taylor, at [email protected].
| | NAO consultation on legal aid |  | APIL will respond to the latest National Audit Office (NAO) consultation on legal aid.
The NAO is seeking views from legal professionals on whether the Government’s provision of criminal and civil legal aid is delivering value for money and providing sufficient access to justice.
Legal professionals’ views are sought about their experience of the legal aid sector and the impact of the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).
The consultation also includes questions about whether firms intend to make any changes to the amount or type of legal aid work that they provide and the key challenges and opportunities for providers of legal aid in the next five years.
Members are encouraged to share their experiences directly by responding to these questions.
The findings of this consultation will be reported to parliament along with recommendations on how the Ministry of Justice can improve its approach to legal aid.
| | New additions to the expert database |  | Five new experts joined the expert database in June. They are:
Dr Kunal Babla, consultant neonatologist, Manchester
Mr Ben Powers, slip risk consultant, Essex
Dr Oliver Segal, consultant cardiologist & electrophysiologist, London
Mrs Amy Shaw, specialist respiratory physiotherapist, Manchester
Mr Ian Simmons, consultant ophthalmic surgeon & paediatric ophthalmologist, Leeds
Find experts by using the expert database. Alternatively, call Jacqui Newman, APIL’s experts and events coordinator, on 01159 435 437.
New experts are encouraged to join APIL’s database to increase the wealth of choice for personal injury lawyers in need of expert witnesses. Members who know of experts who could be an asset to the database should ask them to get in touch with Jacqui.
| | Online conversations this week |  | | |
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