Regardless of which party has instructed them, a medico-legal expert’s primary duty is to the Court. They are expected to provide an unbiased opinion supported by their specialist medical knowledge, upon which a Judge can confidently base the final ruling on a case.
What we look for in a medico-legal expert and how Insurance Medical Reporting can help
Efficiency – After “how much compensation could I get?”, one of the most common questions a Solicitor hears from their personal injury client is “how long will it take?” The Solicitor is often under pressure to settle the claim as quickly as possible so their client can move on with their lives. An essential and unavoidable part of the claims process, obtaining medical evidence, can cause frustrating and costly delays due to appointment availability (or lack of). Finding a mediccal expert with a quick turnaround time from instruction to report can be a challenge, even more so if the case limitation date is fast-approaching.
In order to make this easier for the solicitor, IMR has a large nationwide medico-legal expert panel meaning we can guarantee appointments are always available, even at short notice if necessary. Our Medical Expert Liaison Team constantly monitors volumes of work sent to each panel member to ensure experts are not overloaded and instruction-to-report times fall within agreed service levels. We also offer a ‘real time’ online appointment booking system to all our experts to speed up the appointment booking process.
Compliance – The Court expects all medico-legal experts presenting medical evidence before a Judge to have a professional qualification in their specialist field and registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). Current Ministry of Justice (MOJ) guidelines in respect of low value fast track claims also require specific subjects to be covered in the medico-legal report, for example in a road traffic accident claim, “was the Claimant wearing a seatbelt?” Furthermore, the MOJ requires medico-legal experts to comply with the Civil Procedure Rules (Part 35) which gives guidance to experts and assessors preparing reports for the Court.
By using IMR you can be confident that the medico-legal expert dealing with your claimant is compliant with all of the necessary regulations. Before a medico legal expert is admitted to the IMR panel we check they are registered with the GMC, their CV, references and work history. All of our medico legal expert’s work to our companies agreed standards and are continuously monitored by our Business Compliance team to ensure high standards are kept and all legal regulations are complied with.
Accuracy – It can be frustrating for a solicitor to receive a medico-legal report which contains factual inaccuracies, unsubstantiated personal opinion, irrelevancies or one that fails to conform to CPR Part 35. Waiting on a corrected report leads to unnecessary costs and delays in a claim.
To reduce this frustration, IMR thoroughly check each medico-legal report for errors and MOJ compliance before the report is sent to the Solicitor. In the unlikely event these are found, we have them corrected before forwarding the final report to the Solicitor. IMR case handlers do this as standard with every report and addendum and this is a key step in our quality control process.
Empathy – Most Solicitors will at some point in their career encounter a client who does not agree with the expert’s report and assessment of their injuries. This can sometimes be traced back to the client’s experience in the examination room. Aside from the pain, disability, inconvenience and disruption to the normal course of their lives, being examined by an unfamiliar doctor is a daunting prospect for many people. Understandably, some Claimants find it upsetting and even traumatic to recall the accident circumstances. If they do not feel the medical expert is sympathetic or understanding of their individual experience and injuries, they may well leave the examination with a dislike of the expert and unfavourable opinion of the report before they have even seen it. So an expert with a ‘good bedside manner’ is not just a bonus, but as far as the Solicitor and IMR is concerned, a necessity.
IMR’s medico-legal expert panel is continually monitored and each of our experts must conform to our strict Service Level agreements (SLA) and quality control agreements . A section of the SLA we have with our experts is dedicated to client experience and states amongst other things that examinations must be carried out in private and in a polite and friendly manner. If we receive negative feedback about an expert we will in the first instance contact them to discuss the feedback. The medical expert then has the opportunity to explain and resolve the situation or be removed from our panel.
Specialism – The majority of personal injury claims are the result of minor road traffic accidents. These are mostly whiplash-type injuries which can be dealt with by a GP. More serious or complicated injuries (e.g. broken bones, head injuries, internal injuries, amputations, post traumatic stress disorder) require the opinion of a specialist such as an orthopaedic surgeon, neurologist or psychiatrist.
It is important that a Solicitor instructs an expert with the right medical specialty otherwise the claimant’s injuries may not be adequately assessed and the medical evidence rejected or discredited if the case goes to trial.
If IMR receive an instruction where we believe it would be more appropriate to instruct an expert with a different specialty to the one the Solicitor has requested, we will discuss this with them immediately. Adding our expert medico-legal knowledge into the instruction process will ensure that the claimant is seen by the correct expert first time ensuring the claimant receives the best possible experience.
Experience – It doesn’t always come naturally to your medico-legal expert to know exactly what it is a Solicitor wants from the medico-legal report. After all, what’s important to a Solicitor may not even occur to the expert. This is something which usually only comes with experience, training and clear instructions from the Solicitor. If the expert lacks any of these, it may lead to the Solicitor requiring additional comments or addendum reports which adds delays to the process.
When instructing through IMR you will receive the services of a highly experienced medico-legal expert who knows exactly what needs to be covered in a report and just as importantly, what doesn’t. IMR will act as liaison between expert and Solicitor to ensure the exact needs are communicated and the Solicitor gets the medical report they need as quickly as possible.
Convenience and availability – Attending a medico-legal appointment can be just one more inconvenience for a claimant who is already suffering a degree of pain, loss of amenity or financial hardship through no fault of their own. When they have to take time off work, travel to an unfamiliar place and incur expenses they would otherwise not have incurred it is not surprising that many claimant’s fail to attend their medico-legal appointment. This inconvenience and likelihood of the client not attending can be kept to a minimum if the medico-legal expert can offer flexible appointment times at a venue close to the claimant’s home. The less trouble it is to get there, the more likely the claimant is to attend.
With over 800 locations covered by GPs, 550 locations covered by orthopaedic surgeons and a nationwide network of other disciplines amounting to over 3000 active medical experts, IMR is usually able to provide an expert within 6.5 miles of the Claimant’s home and within the timescales requested by the solicitor.
Cost –The Medical Reporting Organisation Agreement sets out acceptable fee levels which may be charged by GP, Orthopaedic and Accident & Emergency experts. If an expert operates outside the MROA, then their fees may not be fully recoverable from the other side by the successful party.
IMR’s charges for medico-legal services are in accordance with the MROA meaning that you can be confident of always recovering the medico-legal fee.
IMR’s medical expert panel
We have a dedicated Medical Expert Liaison Team to ensure all our medico-legal experts meet the above criteria. Included in our service as standard, we:
- Monitor volumes of work sent to each expert to ensure appointment/report turnaround falls within agreed service levels
- Check every report for accuracy and Ministry Of Justice compliance before sending it to the Solicitor
- Make sure the Solicitor is requesting the most appropriate expert for the claimant’s injuries
- Provide suitable medical experts for all defendant and claimant personal injury cases including criminal injury, employers liability, industrial disease, medical negligence and public liability
- Provide nationwide coverage including the Isle of Wight, Isle of Man and Jersey, with over 800 locations covered by GPs, 550 locations covered by orthopaedic surgeons and a nationwide network of other disciplines, amounting to 3000 active medical experts
- Provide an expert within 6.5 miles from the Claimant’s home
Offer a ‘real time’ online appointment booking system to all our experts to speed up the appointment process - Only provide experts who charge in accordance with the MROA
So if you need a good medico-legal expert, why not make IMR your first port of call and contact us now?
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