Criticism Over ‘Fast Track’ Approach to Complex Negligence Claims

MANCHESTER, England, July 25, 2011 -

The Medical Defence Union (MDU), the UK’s leading medical
defence body, has published its response to the Ministry of Justice
(MoJ) consultation ‘Solving disputes in the county courts’.

The report commented on ‘the viability and fairness’ of
introducing a ‘fast track’ claims process for href="www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-you/clinical-negligence/">clinical
negligence claims, especially against primary care and
independent practitioners. A ‘fast track’ model is currently used
to process some href="www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-you/personal-injury/motoring-accident-injury/">
motor accident claims.  

Despite the fact the motor  accident scheme is judged as a
success, the MDU feel that clinical negligence cases are
significantly more complex and as such could not be managed in the
same way. In particular the MDU feels that they could not support
any scheme that would require MDU members to be bound by the
opinion of a jointly-instructed expert. As such, whilst they
recognise the need to settle valid claims as soon as possible, the
union believes that any scheme for low value claims would need to
incorporate safeguards.

Eddie Jones, Partner and Head of the Clinical Negligence
Department at JMW Solicitors, commented,

‘At JMW Solicitors we are interested to hear of the MDU stance
on ‘fast track’ process proposed for low value clinical negligence
claims. Whilst we agree that claims should be settled as quickly as
possible to limit both costs and the stress to the claimant, we
agree that clinical negligence claims are complex and require care
and attention from both parties to ensure that a fair outcome for
patients and their families is reached.

At JMW we strive to ensure that our clients receive compensation
for injuries caused by clinical negligence. However, this is not
always easy to do. For example in the case of a negligently
performed tonsillectomy we had particular difficulty in proving
that the client’s symptoms were caused by negligent surgery. The
defendant disputed that the surgery had been performed negligently
and maintained that any residual symptoms (which included nasal
regurgitation, a persistent runny nose and halitosis) were simply
recognised complications of a routine tonsillectomy. The
independent expert instructed by JMW found it necessary to meet
with the client in order to observe her symptoms and undertake a
thorough report.

Under a fast track approach, particularly one which utilises a
joint expert, our client may not have been able to receive the
compensation she so rightly deserved for having to endure her
embarrassing symptoms caused by negligently performed surgery.’

ABOUT JMW SOLICITORS

JMW Solicitors LLP is one of Manchester’s leading law firms and
offers a broad range of legal services to both commercial and
private clients, including clinical negligence compensation claims.
For more information visit: href="www.jmw.co.uk/">www.jmw.co.uk/

Eddie Jones, Head of Clinical Negligance, JMW Solicitors, Tel: +44(0)845-872-6666