Legal Advice Service for Newcastle Critical Care
On our intensive care unit, we know that sudden critical illness can lead to problems for patients and their immediate families beyond immediate health concerns.
Sudden serious illness can lead to a range of predictable and unpredictable problems relating to employment, insurance, families, housing, income, relations with authorities and benefits agencies, personal injuries and so forth. Many patients may have made little or no arrangements for their ongoing day to day commitments. Additionally, many patients on our critical care unit may, as result of illness or injury, be unable to participate in decision making.
Within RVI Critical Care, we offer a service to patients and families to provide you with professional legal advice and reasonable services relating to matters that have arisen as a result of your or your loved ones critical illness.
This service is free of charge and will be provided by one of three highly reputed local firms of solicitors, all of whom currently provide legal services for Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Trust.
A solicitor from one of these firms attends the unit on a weekly basis where they meet with families and patients.
If you feel you may benefit from legal advice and don't have your own solicitor or legal representative, please talk to the nurse at the bedside, the unit nurse in charge or one of the unit consultants to get more information or make an appointment.
An appointment can be made on most Thursday afternoons. Commonly encountered problems that may benefit from legal help are:
Welfare benefits/ Local authority assistance
Employment rights/
discrimination
Wills and administration
of Estates
Family issues including
parental responsibility
Critical Illness insurance
Power of attorney/ Court of Protection
Debt advice & Sick Pay
Payment Protection Claims
Personal Injuries Claims
Claims to Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority