You’ve brought a personal injury claim, and if your opponent has accepted responsibility for your accident or has a weak defence, then your legal representative is likely to arrange for you to be examined by a medical expert. Fault doesn’t have to be admitted by a defendant before your legal representative will arrange a medical examination for you, however the timing will often depend on your solicitor’s views of the likely success of your case, as well as where you are up to with your treatment and recovery.
So, what can you expect from a medical examination? In most cases, your solicitor will have sent copies of your medical records to the expert who has been instructed to examine you. The reason for doing this is so that the expert can include in their report any relevant entries from your records that detail your accident-related injuries, and also so that they can check to see if there are any relevant pre-existing injuries in your past medical history.
The expert instructed is likely to be a specialist dealing with the type of injury that you have suffered. For example, an injury leaving scarring would mean that you would likely be seen by a plastic surgeon, and you may also be examined by a skin camouflage consultant. A muscular injury or one involving a fracture would probably mean that an orthopaedic surgeon would be involved. There are many types of experts that are instructed in personal injury claims. Very straight forward injuries may be dealt with by a general practitioner, whereas in more complex cases, specialist experts will likely be instructed, such as a Spinal Surgeon, Neurologist, ENT Surgeon, Plastic Surgeon, Ophthalmologist, Psychologist/Psychiatrist, Urologist, Respiratory or Dental expert, and many more. Depending on the injuries suffered, an expert in a niche area may need to be instructed, such as an Immunologist or Neuropsychologist. Your legal representative will fully consider your injuries to carefully determine the correct type of specialist to examine you. You may also need to see more than one expert if you have suffered a range of injuries, or if the first expert instructed recommends a more specialist opinion.
You may be asked upon attending the expert’s examination rooms to complete a medical questionnaire prior to the appointment, which will ask you about your accident-related injuries and if you have any ongoing problems or if you feel that you have recovered from your injuries. That questionnaire may even be sent out to you a few days before your appointment.
You are likely to have to travel to the medical appointment, however your solicitor should try to arrange an appointment as near to your home address as possible. This may not always be possible, if the expert is in a particularly niche area of medicine or you live in a rural area.
An appointment will often take from around 15 to 30 minutes, but if you are being seen by a psychological expert or certain other specialists, then the appointment is likely to be much longer. The expert will ask you to describe in your own words what happened at the time of the accident, and how you got your injuries. They should also ask you how the injuries affected your ability to work, whether it affected your ability to carry out housework, cooking or shopping for example, and if you needed any extra help, particularly with things like showering, washing your hair, getting dressed etc. The expert will likely ask if the injuries affected your sleep or your ability to drive, or if you were restricted in any hobbies or leisure activities that you might have. As you might only go to see a medical expert many weeks or months after the injury, it might be useful to keep a diary in the early weeks or months after the accident, of how your injuries have affected you, to refer back to at the time of your examination.
The expert will also carry out a physical examination to determine your recovery and whether you have any ongoing symptoms or problems. They may go over their notes with you during the examination and ask if you feel that there is anything else that hasn’t been mentioned that you wish to add. The expert will ask you about any relevant pre-existing medical conditions and it is very important that you are entirely open and honest about those as the expert will usually have access to your full medical history.
Once the appointment is over, the expert will prepare a report for the court, which will be sent to your legal representative. The report should include a review of your medical records, details of their examination findings, what was discussed with you during the interview, and will also include the expert’s opinion and diagnosis of your injury, and in the case of an unresolved injury, a prognosis for the future, along with any recommendations for further treatment. The expert will also comment on future affects of your injury, for example, if it is going to have an impact on your ability to work in the future, or if there are risks that you will develop another condition, or need further treatment or surgery in the future.
In some cases, an expert will not be able to provide their final opinion following one examination. They may consider further investigations to be needed, such as X-rays, CT or MRI scans, or nerve conduction studies, to name a few. The type of investigations will depend on the injury suffered and symptoms reported. They may also wish to wait and see how you recover following treatment or surgery, and to re-examine you at a later date. When this happens, multiple medical reports will be obtained from the same expert.
It is important to remember that the expert instructed must be independent, and their duty is to the Court. They must provide their opinion on the balance of probabilities (i.e., what is more likely to happen than not). Expert reports are very important in personal injury claims, as they are not only relevant to the compensation you will receive for your injuries (your pain, suffering and loss of amenity), but also any financial losses you are seeking to recover, such as loss of earnings, treatment costs, and care and assistance provided to you by family or friends.
The medical reports will be used by your solicitor to value and settle your case, so it is very important that during any examinations you mention to the expert any effects that your accident-related injuries have had on your life, both immediately after your accident and at the time of the examination.
If you have been injured in an accident, and would like some advice on whether you can make a claim, please contact our specialist personal injury team at Stephensons on 0161 696 6235 or fill out our online enquiry form.
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