11 February Case Updates A mother's malign influence on her children 10. Report Writing, 09. Records Assessments and Site Visits, Toxicology, Haematology Paediatrics, Pharmacology, Respiratory medicine This is a case which will assume much greater importance for the 15 points of practice and practical steps that the judge decided can help reduce the risk of well-meaning professionals falling into pitfalls that hinder the identification of safeguarding issues at an early stage than as a case with learning points for experts. For some of the experts in the fields from which jointly appointed experts were instructed, it illustrates how their evidence is tested and applied in a case of suspected fabricated or induced illness (FII). Re N (Children: Fact Finding - Perplexing Presentation/Fabricated or Induced Illness) [2024] EWFC 326
4 February Case Updates Can capacity be assessed on papers without a consultation? Psychiatry, Capacity, 09. Records Assessments and Site Visits Any uncertainty as to whether a psychiatrist can provide an expert report as a paper-based assessment is answered by this case. In this case the paper-based assessment was sufficient for the court to conclude that, having regard to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, s 48, there were "reasons to believe that the Appellant lacks capacity". However, the fact that the court did not make a finding of a lack of capacity and transferred the case to a Tier 3 (High Court) Judge of the Court of Protection in order to determine the matter of capacity indicates how the court recognises how much more difficult it is to make a finding when the report relies on a paper-based assessment compared to a consultation with the subject of the report. MacPherson v Sunderland City Council (Rev1) [2024] EWCA Civ 1579
31 January Case Updates JXX v Scott Archibald [2025] EWHC 69 (SCCO) 05. Rules and Regulations, 02. Setting Fees and Getting Paid, Expert Fees, Medical Reporting Organisations In considering whether the claimant should be required to provide a breakdown of expert and medical agency fees, the judge decided to offer the claimant the option of either providing the breakdown of expert and medical reporting organisation fees, to enable an assessment of work of both the expert and the MRO, or not providing that information and having the expert fees assessed on the hypothetical basis that there was no medical reporting organisation involved.
28 January Case Updates Consent – post-Montgomery Clinical negligence, Dentistry, Consent, 05. Rules and Regulations Although this is a dental/maxillofacial negligence case, it is of importance for all healthcare experts instructed in cases where consent may be an issue. It highlights points about which experts should enquire when there may be an issue as to consent to a surgical or other procedure. In this case it was found that the consent process was deficient in a number of respects. It is also a case which illustrates how expert evidence can separately assist the court on the issues of breach of duty, causation, condition and prognosis. Winterbotham v Shahrak (Rev1) [2024] EWHC 2633 (KB)
23 January Case Updates A demonstrably incapable and incompetent witness who was not fit to have been put forward as an expert witness Hot-tubbing, Chartered Building Surveyor, 05. Rules and Regulations, Northern Ireland, concurrent expert evidence, The Ikarian Reefer For surveyor experts, this case illustrates some very basic errors and it may therefore also be a useful case for expert surveyor witness training. McBride v McGuigan & Anor [2024] NIMaster 20
21 January Case Updates Rebecca Lochrie v Matthew Edwards Judgment G48YJ355 14. Giving Oral Evidence, Laser Eye Surgery, LASIK The Claimant alleged that the Defendant acted negligently in obtaining her consent for laser eye surgery including failing to adequately investigate her ophthalmic condition prior to the surgery.
16 January Case Updates NMC Health PLC v Ernst & Young LLP [2024] EWHC 3021 (Comm) CPR, 05. Rules and Regulations, Adjournment The defendant made an application for adjournment on the proposition that it could not be ready for trial because its experts required additional time to complete their reports. However, it was unable to demonstrate that it would be unfair to proceed with the existing trial.
14 January Case Updates Justice for people with a hearing impairment Capacity, 05. Rules and Regulations, 10. Report Writing, 07. Working with Instructing Parties, Hearing impairment A psychiatrist whose evidence had often been admitted in capacity cases was assisted in this case of a hearing-impaired person by an interpreter who had British Sign Language (BSL) Level 1 training. Her assessment was subsequently criticised as she conducted the assessment without ‘suitable specialist learning support’. For psychiatrists and psychologists, the case illustrates the importance, in the case of some hearing-impaired subjects, of being assisted, or of the assessment being carried out, by a psychologist or psychiatrist who has experience of the assessment and treatment of hearing-disabled people. Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council v KZ (Rev1) [2024] EWCOP 72 (T3)
9 January Case Updates Judicial analysis of written expert healthcare evidence 06. Receiving Instructions This is an important judgment for experts who prepare personal injury reports in the Republic of Ireland but also for all experts, in all of the jurisdictions in the British Isles, for its description of the judicial analysis of expert evidence. It deals with procedure in Ireland for the instruction of specialist medical experts through plaintiffs’ general practitioners. Lynch v Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland [2024] IEHC 587
7 January Case Updates Alan Prescott-Brann v Chelsea and Westminster’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Anor [2024] EWHC 3314 (KB) 05. Rules and Regulations, 10. Report Writing, 13. Changing your opinion The Appellant was given permission to change neurology experts after the judge found that the application was not so late as to be prejudicial to the Respondents, and that the Appellant was not engaging in expert shopping.