Medico-Legal Magazine - Issue 4

Medico-Legal Magazine Issue 4 Contents:

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Medico-Legal Magazine, produced by SpecialistInfo and publishing partner Iconic Media Solutions Ltd.

As predicted in the last issue at the end of 2016, we are still in a period of uncertainty for the industry, with the soft tissue injury claims reforms which will be in place by 1 October 2018, and an ongoing fixed recoverable costs consultation announced at the end of January. In this issue we present pertinent articles, including a summary of the changes to soft tissue injury compensation in road traffic accidents, by Jonathan Dingle, and the challenges faced because of clinical negligence claims inflation, as discussed by Michael Devlin from the MDU. We continue to look at the growing use of mediation to settle medical claims, with several articles on this topic, including the endorsement of alternative dispute resolution by the NHS Litigation Authority, now renamed NHS Resolution from April 2017. We also include articles on the risks involved in the use of robotics and artificial intelligence in medical procedures; the continuing source of claims involving hand arm vibration syndrome; and a summary of injuries of the pelvic ring, which are also a common cause of personal injury claims.

Once again, the magazine will be circulated to up to 40,000 people in the industry, including doctors, insurance companies, law firms and medico-legal agencies. It is published on the Medico-Legal Section of the Specialistinfo.com website, and printed copies can be ordered from Iconic.

Specialistinfo maintains a database of contact details for up to 90,000 UK consultants and GPs, including approximately 11,000 consultants and GPs who undertake medico-legal work. We also provide Medico-Legal courses for expert witnesses and promote the members of the Faculty of Expert Witnesses (the FEW).

We welcome feedback from our readers, so please contact us with any suggestions for areas you would like to see covered in future issues, or share your news and experiences with us. Lisa Cheyne
Specialistinfo
Medico-Legal Magazine
t: +44 (0)1423 727 721
e: magazine@specialistinfo.com
www.specialistinfo.com

Pg6 SpecialistInfo Medico-Legal Courses By Lisa Cheyne

Pg9 Case Study - Mediation Helps Parties Discover What Matters Most By Jane Gunn

Pg10 Understanding the Unsaid Signals By Andrea Gordon

Pg13 New Industry Body Launched to Represent Medical Reporting Organisations By Paul Collin

Pg14 Medico-Legal Aspects of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome By Mr Michael Gaunt

Pg19 Change is on the Horizon Invitation to Mediate Accepted By Mark Field

Pg22 Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare By Greg McEwen

Pg24 Mediation in Clinical Negligence Claims The New NHS LA Scheme By Brian Dawson

Pg26 A Perfect Storm – the Spiralling Cost of Claims By Dr Michael Devlin

Pg29 SpecialistInfo Medico-Legal News By Lisa Cheyne

Pg32 Fractures of the Pelvic Ring By Mr Nikhil Shah

Pg37 Hype and Flexion - “Whiplash Reforms” to Personal Injury Claims By Jonathan Dingle