Giving Evidence - Courts and Inquests
As a doctor, you may be asked to give evidence in many different types of tribunals, including criminal or civil courts, the coroner’s court and employment or mental health tribunals.
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Duty of candour and reporting concerns
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Confidentiality
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Communicating with patients
Patients who are kept informed about their condition and are involved in deciding on the appropriate treatment are more likely to comply with the treatment you suggest, and less likely to complain if things go wrong.
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Chaperones
The medical consultation is a challenge to both doctor and patient, whether in the community or in hospital. The need for more detailed discussions with patients, along with their increasing autonomy and right to make choices in relation to their clinical care and treatment, has affected the traditional role of the doctor-patient relationship. This has made maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in the doctor-patient consultation more challenging, however, the guidance from national and regulatory bodies is clear that it is always the health professional's responsibility to do so.
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Video: Two years of Multiple Jeopardy
A patient dies after amoxicillin reaction – we support GP through criminal investigation, inquest and GMC hearing.
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Video: Living up to expectations
Dealing with claims accounts for about 1/5 of the cases we handle. This video examines a claim made against a consultant surgeon because he left out critical information from a patient’s notes.
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Video: Chain reaction
This video provides some valuable lessons in diagnosis, documentation and the information that needs to be communicated to patients.
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Video: Anatomy of a claim
This video looks at a scenario where a patient brought a claim against three GPs in the same surgery, and how understanding the varied claims enabled us to support the doctors throughout the whole process.
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Video: Caught by consent
A private neurosurgeon faces questions on consent, following a lumbar microdiscectomy sciatica and back pain.
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The role of receptionists: a legal commentary
A recent Supreme Court decision, Darnley v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust [2018] UKSC 50, has raised questions about the role of non-clinical staff in patient care. The judgment criticised the actions of a receptionist in an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department – Joseph McCaughley, litigation solicitor at Medical Protection, looks at the ramifications of the case
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Group instant messaging in an acute care setting
The NHS has released new guidance to help doctors, nurses and other staff safely use instant messaging during emergencies
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Nausea and weight loss – what’s the cause?
Dr W faces a regulatory hearing after a delayed diagnosis – find out how record-keeping helped the defence.
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Questioning your consultant
A disagreement between a specialty trainee and her consultant lies at the heart of a regulatory hearing following a patient’s death.
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Who else is in the room?
A patient undergoing a colonoscopy claims her modesty is disregarded during the procedure. What did Medical Protection do to tackle this allegation?
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A sight for sore eyes
Ophthalmologist Dr P receives a claim alleging poor consent and technique – but is that the real cause?
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Negligent assessment and systemic failures
Two hospital doctors receive claims after a delayed cancer diagnosis, which Medical Protection eventually takes to trial.
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Initial management of an itchy skin rash
Treatment of an itchy rash leads to a claim against GP Dr U, but was he negligent?
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A wrong diagnosis but no criticism
After a serious car crash, Dr C is called before an inquest – Medical Protection is called in to support.
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Doctors can now prescribe patients medicinal cannabis as of November
But what are the rules surrounding this and what do doctors need to know?
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A touchy subject
Intimate examinations are something that every GP will have to carry out at some point in their career, but it’s important that they are conducted in an appropriate manner, especially if one is required during a home visit. Dr Gabrielle Pendlebury, medicolegal consultant at Medical Protection, gives her advice on how best to manage these situations
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