In order to pursue a claim for injuries sustained in a fire or scald accident, it’s essential that the full extent of the harm is medically documented. This is the purpose that a plastic surgery and burns medico-legal report serves.
There are two important reasons for this. The first is to ensure that claimants receive the most appropriate treatment to help them recover as best they can. The other is to provide detailed evidence to support a claim for compensation.
The evidence that medico-legal reports provide can be used as the basis on which a claim is valued. They offer the courts an impartial description of the harm suffered and allow them to come to an appropriate compensation amount based on the severity of the harm suffered, as well as any future problems a claimant may experience.
In this article, we look at the specialists who write these reports and what details they can include. Importantly, we look at how you can connect with medico-legal experts across the country and access the right evidence for your claim.
To learn more, contact us.
Select A Section
- What Is A Plastic Surgery And Burns Medico-Legal Report?
- Why Do You Need A Burns Medico-Legal Report?
- What Goes Into A Burns Medical Report?
- Finding A Burns Medico-Legal Expert
- Working With A Medico-Legal Expert
- Get Help Obtaining A Plastic Surgery And Burns Medico-Legal Report
What Is A Plastic Surgery And Burns Medico-Legal Report?
A plastic surgery and burns medico-legal report is an opportunity to formally document all the effects that a fire, burn or scald accident has had on a claimant. Furthermore, it can include a recommendation for the type of treatment, such as cosmetic surgery, that might be appropriate.
It contains facts of the case as communicated by the claimant and medical histories obtained from records and doctor’s notes. It should also contain the professional opinion of the medico-legal expert as to whether the injuries were sustained in a manner consistent with the accident described, the prognosis for recovery, and details of any permanent issues.
Why Do You Need A Burns Medico-Legal Report?
A plastic surgery and burns medico-legal report will be completed by someone who specialises in this field. They will include information about the extent of the injuries sustained. It’s important that the opinion provided by the medical expert supports the claim.
It will also include details of how the expert believes the injuries will progress. This will provide information on any treatment the claimant might have to undergo in the future. Furthermore, the report will provide an opinion as to whether the injuries in question were caused by the incident that the claim is related to.
This report will then allow you to value the injuries and negotiate a level of compensation that is appropriate for the circumstances. For example, if costly plastic surgery is needed to recover, then this could be taken into account when the injuries are valued.
What Goes Into A Burns Medical Report?
A burns or plastic surgery medico-legal report should include details such as the circumstances of the accident and the nature of the claimant’s injuries. It should detail any treatments received so far, as well as a working prognosis for how the condition is expected to develop.
It will also include expectations of future treatment, including the likelihood that the claimant will need surgery. Furthermore, it should contain details of any symptoms or effects that are likely to be permanent, alongside the impact that they will have on the claimant.
Medico-legal reports should include all findings in an impartial way. This is because the overriding duty of the expert is to the court; not the instructing party. What’s more, the expert is only responsible for detailing the impact that an injury has had on the claimant, and is not expected to make a comment regarding liability or the validity of a claim.
Finding A Burns Medico-Legal Expert
You’ll need a medico-legal report to help prove a case that relates to the likes of personal injury, medical negligence, or data breach law. But how do you obtain a burns or plastic surgery medico-legal report?
You may initially decide to search the internet for a medical expert. However, this will not always give you the best options.
This is because, although search engines bring up a lot of results, the information on these pages might not be up-to-date. For example, some experts may no longer be providing reports, they could have retired or they may not be available to provide a report at this time.
In addition to this, some medical experts might only take on these reports through medical agencies, meaning that you cannot instruct them without going through an agency.
In addition to this, when you use a medical agency, there are a number of financial benefits that are available to the instructing party. For instance, you may be able to defer the payment for the report until the conclusion of the claim, meaning that the costs claimed back from the defendant can cover this.
Working With A Medico-Legal Expert
When you work with a medico-legal expert there is a useful plan of action to follow:
- Firstly, seek out an expert in the area relating to the injury. You can do this through a medical agency. A GP cannot undertake this task; it must be a medical expert who is completely independent of the situation and trained and certified to do medico-legal work.
- Send across a formal request for the report based on an intention to press for compensation. Emphasise the need for information on the severity of the injury and future prognosis.
- Allow the solicitor or medical agency access to relevant medical records.
- The agency and expert can then liaise with the claimant to arrange a suitable appointment.
- A report is typically produced a short time after this appointment.
It’s important to note that a medico-legal report is addressed to the court. The expert owes an overriding duty to be factual, accurate and unbiased. Reports such as this cannot be ‘tailored’ to meet the needs of the claimant. Also, they cannot be exaggerated to over or underplay the contents.
Get Help Obtaining A Plastic Surgery And Burns Medico-Legal Report
Finding an appropriate expert to create a plastic surgery or burns injury report is essential. Medical agencies offer a service whereby they can refer to an established network of GPs, surgeons and specialists who provide medico-legal reports.
Medical agencies can also alleviate the aggravation by arranging the appointment itself and facilitating the examination. They can find an expert close to where the client lives, making the whole process as easy as possible. In addition to this, they can cover the initial cost of the report and defer payment to the solicitor until the claim is settled, too.
Get in touch with sduhealth.org.uk today. Allow us to help you easily access a plastic surgery and burns medico-legal report that can support your client’s claim for compensation.
You can learn more about medico-legal work in this government guide.