Smug or what?

Now this is a picture of someone looking fairly pleased with himself;

As you know I don't normally publish selfies because you never know when I might want to do something illegal!

I've made an exception this time; I took time out to have a coffee, a small cheroot and a little celebration.

You remember I've said a couple of times that I couldn't tell you everything I was up to?  That's because a few people do read this Blog, including some from a certain hospital in Chertsey.

Well, last summer when I went to the Museum of Water I did that because I was up in town visiting my Solicitors. In January I went to see the Zebra Crossing at Abbey Road Studios because I was up in town having my ankle looked at by an independent expert nearby.

This was all because last March I got the decision of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and I'd pretty much run out of options.

I ended up doing what I swore I would never do - I sued Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Foundation Trust for negligence.

I'd like to have told you all about it but that would have given the 'game away'.

This is the end result;

Obviously I had to do some editing - I wouldn't want any of you trying to use this cheque now would I?

It was a very difficult decision for me to take because the last thing I had ever wanted to do was to take money away from the NHS; I spent my life trying to defend it against the people who are now trying to destroy it as a system of free healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay.

However, after I failed to get any action from the hospital Trust or from the Ombudsman (I got an apology for "Poor Communication"......yeah right) I reluctantly decided that to sue was the only way to record what happened - it hurts them in their pocket.

More seriously, one of the factors that flags up that a hospital has problems are the number of lawsuits they generate.

I'm very grateful to Leigh Day and my Solicitor; Anna Brothers who did this for me.

You can contact them here if you need them;

http://www.leighday.co.uk/


Leigh Day has a well justified reputation for representing underdogs against mighty corporations and governments.

They are not afraid of being unpopular or taking risks on behalf of people other law firms wouldn't bother with.

And, somehow, they took on the case of my silly ankle.

My solicitor was kind enough to put up with me; I wanted to hurt the Trust enough to register what they did without going too far. My solicitor would definitely have preferred a bigger fight.

So, if you have a personal injury or medical negligence claim you know where to go for representation;

As it is, I now have a sum of money I never really felt happy about winning.

I was going to just give it to charity or buy equipment for a (different) hospital.

Then because it would have been lot more fun, I was looking at putting on concerts and donating the proceeds to a good cause; that's a bit unlikely now since I broke my back. I'm not sure I'm up to it.

Anyway, I intend to come up with something that's fun and surprising and does some good.

You will be the first to hear about it.

And I think a good night out is in order from the proceeds too - you know, it really hurt!

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com