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Figures show that individuals who don’t complete their rehabilitation programme before settling a personal injury claim are less likely to meet their personal and therapy goals.

Stephanie Fleet, a specialist rehab occupational therapist with Think Therapy 1st, explains the risks of settling a claim too early – and what can be done to mitigate this.

Pursuing a personal injury claim can be a huge emotional undertaking, forcing the individual and their loved ones to consider many complex decisions, which will ultimately determine their future quality of life.

Legal teams play a crucial role in guiding and supporting their clients through this process, discussing the various elements of compensation and future rehab needs, with a view to getting the best possible outcome to ensure they can return to their daily life as much as possible. 

While throughout this process the client has access to a rehabilitation programme, which is often propped up by private services funded under the Rehab Code to expedite their recovery, this ends immediately once the claim is settled.

If there is no plan in place to continue their rehab or a client is left relying on the NHS to meet their needs, they can risk facing significant setbacks on their rehabilitation journey. 

“Some of these cases can be really life-changing injuries, so there are many factors involved,” explains Stephanie Fleet, a specialist rehab occupational therapist with Think Therapy 1st (TT1st).

“Somebody with spinal or brain injury will most likely have an occupational therapist involved, a physiotherapist and, maybe, a dietician, spinal cord teams and urologists; all of which they're used to seeing multiple times a week.

“We’re talking about a group of clients who have had private input which is very tailored and specific to meet their needs – with the best will in the world, the NHS can’t meet those needs.”

While some settlements will take into account the financial burden of future rehab and allocate funds accordingly, in Stephanie’s experience many clients choose not to access services privately under the assumption that they can receive the same levels of care on the NHS.

NHS vs private rehab services 

For many reasons the NHS is unable to meet the demand and needs of individuals who require rehabilitation after suffering a life-changing injury such as brain or spinal injury. 

Patients will usually be admitted to a specialist rehabilitation ward (of which places are severely limited) before being discharged into the community where they may find themselves facing long waiting lists, canceled appointments and significantly restricted access to things like physiotherapy. 

If a client is able to return to work but still has rehab goals to work towards, they may struggle to be referred back into the NHS altogether, according to Stephanie. 

“Community rehabilitation in the NHS is vastly different from that that you would get from private input,” she says.

“The NHS is fantastic for your emergencies and cancer treatment pathways, for example, but when it comes to rehab it just can’t meet the demands.”

Data collected by Think Therapy 1st shows that of those who complete their full rehab programme, 91 per cent go on to achieve their personal goals and 97 per cent achieve their therapy goals.

However, the outlook is starkly different for those who do not finish their rehab before settling a
claim.

“The impact can be huge,” Stephanie continues.

“By having less input, they may not be able to achieve all their rehab goals, their progress can be delayed and ultimately, their outcomes may not be as good as they could have been.”

How can professionals help mitigate this risk?

Stephanie says professionals have a joint responsibility to help protect their clients from these risks.

There are a few simple things that legal teams can do during settlement discussions to try to ensure the client has a good understanding of the situation and that there is a robust plan in place in regard to their future rehab needs before settling.

This includes case managers, and other professionals such as occupational therapists, being upfront about the level of provision in the NHS, such as the waiting list times in their local NHS trust. 

It’s also important that clients have an understanding of what kind of rehab support they may need in the future and what the potential costs might be for private input, so this can be considered as part of the settlement. 

“I think it would be really helpful if when settlement discussions come up, whoever is involved has a conversation with the client to talk about what the waitlist times are in their specific area, what they are working on and what input they would need for that, so that they can have these conversations and fully consider that,” she says.

“We’re not saying don’t settle, just make sure that there are plans in place so the client knows what the situation is.”

Read more insights from Think Therapy 1^st here. 

TT1st offers a unique model of rehabilitation which includes functional occupational therapy both at-home and in the community and is based on a holistic approach to help individuals live their life their way. To find out more about how we could support your client visit www.tt1st.co.uk