Minutes

16th May 2003 - Twelfth Meeting

The Minutes and Resolutions of the last meeting were approved.
The Trust Deed requires 'hardship' to be established as a threshold requirement for a number of payments. First, to qualify for payment of sums in addition to the £5,000 single sum for psychiatric injury, the psychiatric injury has to have given rise to 'particular financial or emotional hardship'. Second, carers' and victims' loss of earnings has to have caused 'particular hardship'. Third, 'particular hardship' has to be established in order for a qualifier to be entitled to an additional dependency payment arising from a loss of a victim's future earning potential.
It was agreed that 'particular' in the above contexts should be given its ordinary meaning, namely 'more than is normal or usual', and that David Body of Irwin Mitchell had made some very helpful suggestions in relation to how these claims should be approached. The Trustees had not yet received comments from the Department of Health, but understood that these are to follow shortly. The approach to be adopted by the Trustees will then have to be reconsidered in light of any such comments.
The Trustees confirmed their Resolution that they would not accept documents relating to claims less than 5 working days before meetings. It is important for decisions not to be made in haste and for the Trustees to have sufficient time to prepare properly.
The Trustees raised concern about claims where the victim was being cared for in a foreign country and would not have the benefit of the Care Package that was announced by the government in October 2000. The Trustees also confirmed that the costs of treatment (experimental or otherwise) are not within the terms of the Trust Deed, and therefore cannot be paid. These are matters to be raised with the Department of Health.
The Trustees considered 2 claims in part, 3 new claims, and 11 claims with outstanding issues.
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