83 LAWYER MONTHLY EXPERT WITNESS AWARDS 2025 Congratulations on your recognition in the Lawyer Monthly Expert Witness Awards. How does this accolade reflect your contributions to the field of clinical negligence in obstetrics and gynaecology? It is a great honour to receive this award, which recognises my work in the medicolegal field over 32 years, having written over 1200 reports on all aspects of clinical negligence in O&G. I am happy to say that, in most cases, my advice about whether a case will succeed or fail, has proved to be correct! One cannot underestimate the importance of a thorough analysis of the medical records, which is the foundation of any case. I have devised a system to ensure that the available information is accessible from digital records. Without a clear pathway through hundreds of pages, often duplicated, it would not be possible to achieve a clear and balanced view of the case. This is vital but inevitably time consuming. An enthusiasm for detective work is required because adverse events can have multiple causes, including poor communication, poor teamwork, and inadequate staffing levels. In my experience, it is rare that an error by a single doctor is the sole cause of harm to a patient. Having identified what went wrong, the expert has to form a decision as to whether the injury was avoidable due to clinical negligence, or whether it was an unavoidable complication of the treatment. Sometimes the breach of duty is clear but, in other cases, there is a grey area between poor practice and negligence. These are serious decisions, which affect the success of a claimant’s case and will impact the clinical and nursing staff working for the defendant hospital. This is unrelated to the severity of the outcome for the claimant. Every day, many negligent errors occur in hospital but, fortunately, most have no consequences for the patients involved. On the other hand, a tragic event, such as a stillbirth, can seldom be predicted or prevented. The insights gained from my medicolegal practice have led to an increased awareness of the issues concerning patient safety. I have served on several risk management committees in my hospital, which have recommended improvements in departmental protocols. I also give regular lectures on the role of “human factors” in causing errors in diagnosis and treatment. It is so important for practitioners to understand the concepts that surround patient safety, such as recognising when a patient is unwell and asking for advice. Improved protocols for the recognition of bowel and bladder injury in “low risk” procedures have been proposed.
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