October 2018 Issue 105
www.independent-practitioner-today.co.uk
INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONER TODAY
The business journal for doctors in private practice
In this issue
Be assured of your RMO
A defence of resident medical officers and private hospitals’ reliance on them P26
Beware of gifts
How to negotiate the tricky ethics of being given a thank-you gift from a patient P30
£12.50
New rules to slash top-earning doctors’ January tax bill
See www.independentpractitioner-today.co.uk
Does paying for advice work?
Why investing in a professional adviser could be crucial to your financial success P40
Faster, cheaper way to deal with negligence By Robin Stride Plans to give patients and their doctors a faster, cheaper and less stressful experience in alleged medical negligence cases have been revealed to Independent Practitioner Today. Under the blueprint – being actively backed by some leading medical expert witnesses – both sides would have to agree to early and independent mediation. Independent Medical Negligence Resolution (IMNR) has been launched by a private consultant entrepreneur to cut through many of the processes’ current frustra tions. Urological surgeon Mr Hugh Whitfield, said: ‘Once the case has been taken over by lawyers, the best opportunity for mediation to be successful has been lost. ‘There is no incentive for law yers to pursue resolution by medi ation. There is a very strong financial disincentive.’ He added: ‘IMNR will work with all those who want to avoid a lengthy, expensive, stressful and confrontational approach by first exploring the possibility of alter native dispute resolution.’ In association with
Injured patients, chief execu tives of both private and public hospitals, doctors’ defence bodies, medical negligence solicitors and NHS Resolution would all be able to access IMNR directly. Mr Whitfield, who practises at London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital, added: ‘The present sys tem is not achieving what must surely be the objective: to provide an apology, an explanation, rea sonable compensation and rapid resolution.’ He said cases he was involved with as a medico-legal expert wit ness acting for both claimants and defendants ‘drag on for years and this delay often causes as much stress for the claimant as the origi nal injury’. Case costs were escalating at an alarming rate and caused enor mous stress for doctors too. The threat of litigation led to defensive and risk-averse medicine. Both were expensive and poor practice. He said medical expert witnesses were frustrated by the current sys tem and he had already recruited 20 high-profile doctors. ‘The moti vation for us all is to improve the “patient journey”. By doing so, costs will be reduced and the other
My Hugh Whitfield: his mediation initiative aims to cut doctors’ and patients’ stress and save money main stakeholder, the wider NHS, will benefit.’ Expert witnesses were currently frustrated by: Slow settlement of fees notes; Some inefficient agencies used by solicitors; Not being told about a case’s settlement and its outcome; Cases being settled by an adver sarial legal approach that failed to reflect the clinical picture. Mr Whitfield said they were also required to block off dates many months and even years ahead of a trial window that had been
reserved for a court case, knowing there was less than a 1% chance of the case coming to court. He foresaw many advantages for medical expert witnesses when instructions came through IMNR. They would avoid many frustra tions and know they were contrib uting to improved care of the injured patient, rapid resolution of claims and a reduction of stress for claimants and for doctors involved. IMNR has an expert adviser in each major specialty who will identify the best expert in that specialty or subspecialty and then oversee the quality of their report. They will be paid £400 per case, while those who write a report will receive £2,000. The firm aims for all systems to be ready by the end of the year. Mr Whitfield, who is working with law yers who are also mediators or evalu ators, has funded the start-up and is looking for venture or angel capital. If you are one of our experienced medical expert witness readers and would like to know more, email him at director@imnr.org. Next month: Mr Hugh Whit field outlines the thinking behind his new company’s aims to be a game-changer