Case track limits and the claims process for personal injury claims
British Medical Association’s response to the Ministry of Justice’ Consultation ‘Case track limits and the claims process for personal injury claims’
Thank you for seeking the British Medical Association’s (BMA) comments on the above consultation. The BMA would like to comment on certain areas of the document, most notably the proposed medical report template (Appendix 6) to be used by medico-legal experts, but also on other sections of the paper which are included in the comments below.
The BMA’s Medico-Legal Committee believes that the consultation is a positive step forward and that in particular the template has been designed to allow experts the scope to report in a flexible manner. The following additional comments have been made:
- Past medical history/ Review of records’ (Appendix 6, page 62) The BMA believes that the wording in italics is inaccurate and should be rewritten. When writing a report the doctor should consider at least the GP records before dismissing other records as irrelevant.
- Diagnosis Opinion and prognosis’(Appendix 6, page 62-63)The BMA believes that the sentence ‘Confirming whether a specialist medico-legal opinion or other advice is required.’ should be removed from the paper. The doctor writing the report and giving a diagnosis, opinion and prognosis should have been selected specifically for their expertise in the required medical specialty therefore he or she is qualified to reach their own conclusion independently.
- ‘Signed Statement of Truth’ (Appendix 6, page 63) The BMA would like to point out that within the report template there should be a section entitled ‘Declaration’ which should come before the section ‘Signed statement of truth’. We would also like to see a further section added where the expert can list the evidence as an appendix.
- The BMA feels that within the document it should be made clear that a letter of instruction should be received and referred to by the expert in the report.
Appendix 7: Special damages (page 64)
The BMA questions the value of setting limits to special damages. These limits may deter more experienced experts from writing reports, therefore possibly reducing the quality of the expert and the report written.