Hello again
 

I would like to tell you about a conference that I went to on 22 July 2010 in Birmingham. Myself and colleagues in Irwin Mitchell’s Client Liaison Team gave a presentation, mainly about our cases and the type of work that we do. We feel that we all Make A Difference  (MAD for short!) by not just arranging rehabilitation for our clients but also by acting as their advocate  ‘…to listen, take notes and help the patient communicate, understand, remember and cope with an often confusing process’.

My colleague Sue Swales from Leeds described the aims of our team:

• A specialist service offered to those who have suffered serious personal injury especially head injuries
• Ideally we are involved from the early stages of a head injury claim to help gather information to help move the claim forward
• Ensure that needs are identified and met by accessing services and support available
• Maximise the client’s experience of the legal process

Helena Bryant from Birmingham and I presented one of our cases to show that rehabilitation really does work for our clients and Caroline Trinder from London discussed the other activities we are involved in such as charity work, rehabilitation training, working with rehabilitation providers, attending conferences and setting standards. Despite all the hard work though, the job satisfaction that we receive from successfully rehabilitating our clients is tremendous!

In my last blog, I said that I would tell you more about my role as a Client Liaison Manager.  The client liaison team was created at Irwin Mitchell to meet the specific needs of clients affected by traumatic brain injury.

As a Client Liaison Manager I am responsible for facilitating the rehabilitation of clients and providing practical support for clients. The legal process can be difficult to follow, especially for those that have sustained a brain injury.

It is not hard to miss appointments due to memory difficulties and some of our clients cannot absorb or action information in the letters that they receive from their legal team and the hospital.  People find themselves in a maze of services that they are unfamiliar with which can be overwhelming following a serious injury. 

Our Client Liaison Managers identify the specific needs of the individual by conducting an assessment initially to identify the support required from hospitals, General practitioners, support workers / carers, social services, rehabilitation units, and to look at aids and equipment or adaptations to property that may be required and assist with benefit applications. 

Each Client Liaison Manager has a medical background and can make sense of these services, explain how they work and interact with each other and provide the support that our clients and their families need.  We are based in our Manchester, Leeds, London and Birmingham offices and we are about to appoint for our Sheffield office.

As well as our service being tailored to meet the needs of our clients we are responsible for working together as a team to revise our standards, protocols and procedures and update our own practices. We also provide teaching and training for our legal colleagues/ support workers/ Headway groups and trainees .

The role is busy and demanding, varied and enjoyable. We never know from day to day what challenges to expect in our role but it’s a great reassurance that Irwin Mitchell offers this for clients with serious injuries.   Our team of Client Liaison Managers are renowned for their understanding and experience of the issues that affect you and your family, we have the qualifications, skills and experience to support you and we know what positive action to take to make a difference.

Hello. I am part of the team in working with our head injury solicitors in Manchester and I am employed as a Client Liaison Manager. My background is medical and I am responsible for representing our clients who have sustained a brain injury, helping them to get access to rehabilitation whilst supporting their families.
 
It’s a pretty familiar scenario in cartoons and sitcoms that a person gets struck on the head, sees stars’ loses their memory and behaves oddly. Then, by chance, another bang on the head instantly restores the person that was injured.
 
In reality, brain injuries take many different forms. Some occur naturally and are difficult to predict or avoid. Haemorrhages, tumours and viral infections can affect us at any age, often without obvious cause. An acquired brain injury (ABI) is not present at birth and the most common type is the result of damage externally, such as a sharp blow to the head.  The chance of sustaining a traumatic brain injury is a lot higher than people think.

People always ask “what happens” when there is a sharp blow to the head because they presume that the skull protects the brain from damage. The skull is amazingly robust but like any other hollow shell it can be smashed and damaged. Even when the skull remains intact, the damage to the brain can be devastating. Our brains have the texture of blancmange and the inside of the skull is soft and rigid. Sudden deceleration such as a hard blow to the head or the head hitting a windscreen at anything over 20mph brings the brain into violent contact with the skull and some parts of it get bruised and torn.
 
A & E departments deal with visible and life threatening injuries and often the “invisible” damage to the brain is given less priority. In the hours and days after a brain injury, bruising leads to swelling and as the brain presses against the skull, blood flow becomes impaired as arteries become damaged. The treatment received during the early hours, days and weeks have a critical impact on the potential for recovery. The long term effects depend on the size and severity of the damage, but given the crucial function of each separate part of the brain, a wide range of impairments or disability may follow.
 
The moral of my story is to look after your brain and please do not take it for granted! It is the most important bit of you so don’t take risks. Wear a safety helmet if doing something hazardous such as cycling, mountaineering or pot holing and always wear a seat belt in a car, even as a passenger. Bones can be mended, flesh can be stitched back together but brains are a lot trickier to fix so please don’t take chances.
 
Irwin Mitchell support’s Headway’s campaign to provide good quality printed information leaflets to A & E departments. Sometimes, little information about what to look out for post injury is given out in A & E following injury to the head so I am personally thrilled that this information will be available to both the injured person and their families as part of my role remit includes educating the client and their families about brain injury. The role of a Client Liaison Manager is extremely rewarding and I look forward to telling you more about it in my next blog.