Personal injury claims and insurance companies.

Garden House Solicitors regularly receives instructions from accident victims who are dissatisfied with the service that they have received from another firm of solicitors.  The most frequent complaints are that they have never met face to face with the person handling their claim and that the medical evidence obtained by that solicitor is not correct.

 

Accident victims are often in need of rehabilitation and if your solicitor does not see you face to face it is not always apparent what help you need.  At Garden House we see every one of our clients face to face and their rehabilitation is one of the most important aspects of our work.  We also ensure that we instruct eminent experts to examine our clients and prepare expert medical reports.

Worries about 'revenge porn' addressed on Coronation Street

Article by
Patricia Ling

Coronation Street ran a storyline in November about 'revenge porn'. A young woman was being blackmailed by a former boyfriend who had taken explicit photographs of her during the course of their relationship and then threatened to publish them on social media sites. The character involved went through a nightmare for weeks on end worrying about how she would be perceived if the images became public. In the end, the photographs were published because the character had faced up to her ex and refused to be blackmailed by him. After he had published the images on social media sites, she reported him to the Police and he was arrested.

  

Taking explicit photographs of someone and threatening to publish them without the person's consent is a criminal offence. English law protects photographers through the law of copyright but only to the extent that their work is not immoral or being used in a criminal manner.  The photographer owns the copyright of photographs taken for a period of 70 years after his or her death except where they are taken in the course of employment in which case the copyright is owned by the employer. How the photographer uses the images taken is another story and may result in criminal charges being brought against the photographer, as in the example referred to above. Furthermore, anyone who takes or possesses pornographic photographs of a person who appears to be under the age of 18 years can face prosecution under the Protection of Children Act 1978, this is a serious offence and can result in imprisonment.

If you are the victim of revenge porn and or if someone is threatening to publish explicit photographs of you on social media sites contact Garden House for advice.

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Tel: 01992 422 128

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Email: info@gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.

Refugee Crisis

It has been impossible to miss seeing the harrowing photographs in the News of Syrian refugees, many of whom have died fleeing into neighbouring countries. The most harrowing image for me was that of the three year old Aylan Kurdi’s body, which was washed up on a beach in Turkey. That image urged me to do something to help these people.

Article by Patricia Ling

I have found that people do not know how to help and I was not sure what to do for the best myself, so I contacted a local friend, Charles Ledsam, who was able to put me in touch with Acorn Camps in Hungary. Acorn Hungary Trust (known as AcornCamps) was founded in 2001 and is based at Bicske, not far from Budapest. It is now led by Anglican priest Andy Oatridge and his wife Zsofi. They moved to Hungary in Summer 2013 with their three young children.

The Trust’s original aim was to provide summer camps with Hungarian churches for teenagers in Hungary. However, in the last few weeks things have taken a rather different turn.

The Human Rights Act

In its first Queen’s Speech recently the Government promised to ‘bring forward proposals for a British Bill of Rights’.  You will note the use of the word proposal – this means nothing other than an indication that the Government appears to have paused in its commitment to scrap The Human Rights Act.

Data Protection Act

Article by Patricia Ling

Do you know that under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to ensure that all information held on you is factually accurate and if you can prove that is not the case you can make a formal request to the party holding the records for them to be rectified.  This includes your medical records.  You are entitled to ask your GP for a copy of your medical records and they are likely to make a small charge for provision of the same, the maximum that GP surgeries can currently charge is £50.  If you find anything in your medical records is inaccurate you are entitled to write to the NHS Trust that holds the records and request rectification.



If the Trust does not rectify your records, you can make a formal complaint under the NHS complaints system. If the Trust is unreasonable you also have the right to take the matter to court, although at present you have to show that the inaccuracy is harmful to you in some way. (The same applies if you want to challenge inaccuracies in social work records).



If the record is factually correct but you dispute a doctor's opinion, you have no legal right to get the record changed or deleted but you are entitled to have it noted on your records that you do not agree with the GP’s opinion and it will help your argument if you get a more recent medical report which agrees with you and disagrees with the doctor's opinion. Even if you do that the Trust concerned will not normally agree to delete the earlier reference but will insert a cross-reference to the later report.

For help and advice regarding data held about you please contact Patricia Ling on 01992 422128 or by email patricia@ghslaw.co.uk

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www.gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk

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Tel: 01992 422 128

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Email: info@gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.

Team Bonding Days

Are team bonding days’ worth it or just ‘forced fun’.

At Garden House they are definitely ‘fun’ and absolutely not ‘forced’!

Our motto is ‘work hard/play hard’ as you can see from this picture.

We believe that team building is a positive exercise that fosters trust and kindness.  It creates gelling of the team, pulling together during tough times and sharing the workload which transfers to the workplace.

We certainly intend to have many more and suggestions are very welcomed.

Article by Patricia Ling

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Tel: 01992 422 128

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Email: info@gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.

Big Brother is Watching!

The Government is asking your GP to transfer your electronic medical records onto a national database called the NHS Spine without seeking your consent. If you want to keep your medical records secure you have to opt out of the scheme. For information on protecting your privacy follow the link http://www.thebigoptout.com/about-nhs-confidentiality/



Article by Patricia Ling



The problem as I see it is that your entire medical history, including details of any conversations you have with your GP, will not be secure.  This information will be uploaded to a central record system referred to as the NHS Spine which will be run by BT and Oracle and will cost an estimated £20 billion.  Those records will no longer be held at your GP’s surgery and can then be accessed by over a million NHS employees from hospital staff, your local pharmacist to thousands of NHS admin staff.  These records will also be accessed by central Government bureaucrats.  All of these people will have access to your name, address, telephone numbers (even if ex directory) and your NHS number and your GP’s details.  This sensitive information will be stored in hosting centres and will not be anonymised.  Even those who do opt out will have their medical data uploaded to the central system and the promise from the Government is that their names, addresses and dates of birth will be removed but there is no guarantee of that.  At least if you opt out your records will remain with your GP so will be safer as they will only be accessed by your own surgery.  Many GPs have seen the risks of the database failing and their patients’ medical history becoming public knowledge and they are encouraging their patients to opt out.  The General Medical Council conducted a survey and report that 9 out of 10 GPs believe that patients should be asked to give explicit consent before their medical records are uploaded to the NHS Spine and 8 out of 10 GPs polled said they were opting out and opting their own families out as well.

Garden Party 2013

Article by Patricia Ling

Garden House Solicitors hold a Garden Party on the first Friday of July annually to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.  This year the Garden Party was held on 5th July and was attended by about 100 people including the Town’s Mayor, Patricia Moore.

Myself and Patricia Moore

The Garden Party was a huge success and we are enormously grateful to Waitrose Hertford and its customers for sponsoring the event through its Community Matters Scheme.  Thank you to everyone who attended and the local people and businesses who donated raffle prizes, we are delighted to report that we raised the sum of £1,020 for the Alzheimer’s Society.  The Garden Party was a chance for local people and business to meet the Garden House team in a relaxed and informal environment.  Afternoon tea was served and we received compliments from everyone on the delicious food.  Sharon and Erica served Pimms and bubbly and everyone enjoyed relaxing in the sunshine having a drink and a chat. 

Paws for Thought

Article by
Patricia Ling

As a responsible dog owner it is your duty to make yourself familiar with various laws that affect you as a dog owner and I hope this blog will help you. If you comply with all of these laws you should have no problems with your dog but if you do have any problems please contact us at Garden House Solicitors so that we can help you.

The Control of Dogs Order 1992

This law requires that all dogs wear a collar and a tag showing the owner’s name and address on it whilst they are out at a public place. Any dog without a collar in a public place can be seized by the police and treated as a stray. If your dog gets out by accident you should immediately contact the dog warden in your local area and the local police station and notify them of that because the Environmental Protection Laws Act 1990 allows the dog to be seized, sold or destroyed if it is not claimed within 7 days.