Injury Awareness Week: Why Does it Matter Beyond This Week?

Throughout this week, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) have been using their website and various social media platforms to highlight what it really means to suffer an injury caused by negligence that could have been avoided.

They have shown, through case studies, the importance of recognising when an injury has been caused by negligence, and they have highlighted how seriously injuries can affect the lives of the victim and their families.

APIL says;
“No one expects or chooses to be injured, but negligence can happen to anyone and it could happen to you. This is why injured victims must be at the heart of policymaking.”

The figures from the Department of Work and Pension’s Compensation Recovery Unit show that at least 500,000 people in the UK are needlessly injured because of someone else’s carelessness or recklessness, which could or should have been avoided.

Why Bodily Integrity Matters in Personal Injury Law

This year APIL concentrated on the concept of bodily integrity, which refers to the fundamental right of every individual to have autonomy and self-determination over their own body, including the freedom to make decisions about medical treatment, procedures, and to be free from unwanted physical interference of harm. It is frightening to think that this, something we tend to take for granted, can be taken away as the result of an accident or negligent act or omission.

The Impact of Negligence on Victims’ Lives

Injuries can be physical, psychological or both. They can affect a person’s ability to work, be physically active, look after themselves and care for/ provide for their family. In short, it can put a person’s life on hold, they may never recover and may have to rebuild their lives and create a new “normal”.

Misinformation Around Personal Injury Claims

Personal Injury Law in this country, most of the time, will be able to help by allowing an injured person to make a claim for financial compensation, but the law around personal injury has been a “hot topic” for the Government in recent years with calls for change which could make it harder for victims of negligence to bring claims or be appropriately compensated. There is also a lot of misinformation available about levels of financial awards and who is entitled to bring claims.

That is why injury awareness is not just important for one week of the year but every day.

Melanie Lidstone-Land says;
“It is so important that we support this campaign because it is vital that injured people have the knowledge to know that they can bring a claim, the legislation to allow them to bring the claim and dedicated lawyers to assist with bringing that claim. Bodily integrity is a fundamental right for the injured person, supporting campaigns such as this is one way to highlight the need for continued government recognition and support for access to justice for all.”