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A CARER has written a letter to the Justice Secretary urging him to rethink plans to cut legal aid for victims of medical blunders.
Michelle Towle, 34, who cares for her disabled brother-in-law, Aaron Tring, accused Ken Clarke of turning people with disabilities into “second-class citizens”.
It was in response to a comment made by Mr Clarke last month, where he said that the legal aid bill had spiralled in recent years and only cases where “life or liberty” were at stake should be funded from the public purse.
But at London’s High Court in June, a judge approved a multi-million-pound compensation settlement to Aaron and his mum, Trisha, from Nottingham Queen’s Medical Centre.
The money will ensure his complex needs are met for the rest of his life, as the 26-year-old needs 24-hour care. Aaron’s case, which was brought after he was starved of oxygen at birth, was paid for using legal aid.
Without it, Mrs Towle, of South Normanton, said they would not have been able to afford to pay for a legal team to fight the case, which lasted for seven years.
She said: “Without legal aid, we would not have had any financial ability to take his case as far as it did.
“Everybody watches the news and we pick out the bits that are relevant to us, so when I heard Ken Clarke talking about cuts to legal aid I decided to write to him.
“If they don’t have the provision to make it right, then it makes them second-class citizens.”
Mrs Towle said that if legal aid was not available to victims of medical blunders, then the hospitals would “never be held accountable” for their mistakes.
She said: “You can go to a supermarket, complain and get a £10 voucher from it. You should be able to do that with a hospital if they are at fault.”
In her letter to Mr Clarke, Mrs Towle wrote: “I urge you to reconsider your plans to remove this vital access to justice for those people like Aaron.
“Aaron’s case is not one in isolation. There are many people out there who have suffered the same or similar injustice and these are the very people who need support from the Government.”
Mrs Towle said she had not yet received a response from Mr Clarke.
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers president David Bott backed Mr Towle.
He said: “Cutting legal aid for victims of medical blunders, at the same time as restricting the ‘no-win, no-fee’ system, is a savage blow for people like Aaron.
“Michelle is right to take this issue straight to the Justice Secretary, as vulnerable people seem to have been ignored in these ill-thought through proposals.
“I have real concern that these reforms, if implemented, will deny access to justice for some victims whose cases are complicated. The proposals are unfair, unjust, unwarranted and must be reconsidered.”
Medico Legal News Source: Derby Telegraph
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