Promotional feature Medical
Battling injury Stuart Matthews on the demands of helping our injured service personnel adjust to their new circumstances
serviceman accepts the possibility of injury during battle but would hope to avoid it during training. Servicemen and women who lose fitness are supported
by the system with well-established and highly experienced rehabilitation centres such as Headley Court. There are also Personal Rehabilitation Units (PRUs) and their
can’t take the Army out of a man. One of the strengths of our armed forces is the sense of belonging to the family of one’s regiment or unit that is engendered, with each unit having its own unique history. Each serviceman knows their job within that family and that
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family will support each member as need arises. This is one of the rewards for laying one’s life down for the sake of one’s country. Another is the potential of a job for life if one remains fit and useful to the service. Keeping fit is integral to service life and the different degree
of athletic performance required between the Army, Navy and Royal Air force is narrowing as our Armed Forces are having to rationalise resources, including human resources. Loss of fitness whilst serving is an inevitable block to
promotion and a potential loss of livelihood. Whilst the basic tenant of the military is to disable and kill the enemy, the role of peace keeping has evolved with the advent of modern conflicts and this requires a unique set of specialist skills that engineering and medical apart, often translate with difficulty into civilian life. The military system can be viewed as a rigid one but with that
rigidity comes a degree of certainty and stability which is not found in civilian life and training for the job is the best form of defence against the stressors of military life in peace and in war. Part of that unique lifestyle is the sense of camaraderie that is reinforced by the mutual support and trust between members of a unit during training for conflict but also during organised team sporting activities within and between units. No system is perfect and servicemen can be the victims of
a system that prefers you to adapt rather that it adapt to you. It is a fact of life that servicemen will develop medical conditions many of which are as a consequence of their employment. The
46 /Claims Magazine/Issue 11
ilitary life is unique. It controls a serviceman’s and woman’s entire life and moulds their personality to conform to a certain set of attitudes and expectations. It is often said you can take a man out of the Army but you
equivalents for the Navy and Air force that maintain a military structure but are dedicated to supporting and helping the servicemen and women negotiate the hurdles of medical and mental health treatment. These are staffed with experienced warrant officers, from unit welfare officer backgrounds, who will ensure the servicemen and women can attend their various appointments, get their necessary medication and attend their limb fitting sessions, as well as attend to their pastoral care and retraining to some form of employment as a civilian. The access to PRUs will depend on the service personnel’s
parent unit making a referral to a PRU and there are often waiting lists to access such facilities.
Out in the world There comes a time however when what the services can offer
comes to an end with a medical discharge. There are a number of charities such as the Royal British Legion
and Help for Heroes but their resources are limited and a disabled serviceman’s or woman’s future is full of fear and uncertainties. These resources can be significantly bolstered by effective
support from legal services and there are law firms that specialise in supporting injured service personnel. Such firms will need input from personal injury or clinical negligence experts who have an insight into how the system works and the unique exigencies of life within the Armed Services and the effect of the sudden loss of support systems. Despite the supposed prioritisation of treatment of service personnel in the NHS, this frequently does not come to pass. At TLA we have experts in injury and mental health who are
able to provide expert reports on military personnel ranging from multi-system trauma to mental disorders such as PTSD, by virtue of their own personal military experience and management of such conditions within the military setting. ●
Stuart Matthews is a co-founder and director of TLA Medicolegal
TLA Medicolegal prides itself on providing the highest quality expert medical reports from the leading experts in the UK. We ensure that your client’s needs are matched with the right medical expert & you are supported with exceptional client care & communication by our dedicated team. Contact TLA Medicolegal on
info@tla-medicolegal.com or call on 01869 336050 for all your expert medical reports.
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