General description of the work General Practitioners undertake
General Practitioners (GPs) deal with the care and management of patients in the community. They are involved in the initial diagnosis and treatment of most medical conditions. They undertake the initial investigations and refer on to hospital and out-patient care those patients who need Specialist attention. They also monitor patients in the community after they have been discharged from hospital.


Most common clinical areas / procedures leading to a claim of clinical negligence
• Delay in diagnosis of serious conditions
• Delay in referral to a Specialist
• Inadequate monitoring of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension
• Inadequate early investigation of symptoms that later develop into a serious conditions
such as cancer
• Failure to diagnose meningitis
• Minor surgery in general practice


Sub-Specialities / Alternative and Additional job titles
The General Practitioner is also known as a GP or a General Medical Practitioner. In the United States he/she may be known as a Primary Care Physician.


Usual Qualifications
The General Practitioner will have a basic medical degree such as MB BS. Some GPs will have MRCGP or FRCGP (Member or Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners) after their name.


Academic Appointments
The General Practitioner may hold a Lectureship or Professorship in General Practice or in Primary Care.
Some GPs are also GP Trainers (they are involved in the training of junior doctors who are becoming GPs).


Our Experts
The General Practitioners who prepare reports on medical negligence cases on our behalf are all NHS GPs. They are in active clinical practice and are experienced at preparing medico-legal reports. They are willing to attend Court in the UK and Ireland provided that they are given enough notice and that their fees and expenses for attending are agreed in advance.
Each of the General Practitioners who prepare reports on our behalf has particular areas of clinical interest within his/her practice and we match each case with the most appropriate General Practitioner.


The Report
The General Practitioners prepare their Reports for the benefit of the Courts. In other words, they prepare unbiased Reports in order to help the Court to decide the case, rather than to help one side or the other.
The General Practitioners examine all the documentation and details of the case and look at the standard of care that the Client received. They then give their opinion on whether or not the standard of care that the Client received fell below the standard of care he/she should have received.
Where necessary they provide background documentation and information to back-up their opinion.


Documentation required
The most important documentation is the Client’s GP Records. This documentation will contain the Records of the Client’s consultations with their General Practitioner and details of any investigations and treatments that they underwent. It will contain copies of correspondence between the GP and Hospital Specialists and Out-Patient Clinics. It will also contain a record of the prescriptions issued by the GP to the Client.
If the Client was admitted to hospital in connection with the events in dispute, then copies of the Hospital Records will be of help to the General Practitioner when he/she is preparing his/her Report.
An account of events by the Client and/or the Client’s family will be of assistance to the General Practitioner. Copies of the Client’s Attendances with their Solicitor will also help to clarify the areas of care that are at issue in the case.


Time-scale for the Report
Once we have confirmation to proceed with the Report the General Practitioners can usually prepare their Reports within 8 to 10 weeks. If a Report is needed urgently we will endeavour to have it prepared sooner than this.


Price of the Report
Once we receive all the documentation we will provide you with a quotation for the price of the Report from the General Practitioner. If you decide to go ahead with the Report we will have it prepared and we will forward it to you on receipt of payment.
If you decide not to go ahead with the Report after receiving the quotation we will return all the documentation to you and there is no charge.


Queries on the Report / Addendums
The Reports from the General Practitioners are usually very clear and give a concise opinion on the standard of care the Client received.
If minor clarifications are needed then these will be provided at no extra cost.
If, after the Report has been completed, additional documentation needs to be examined by the General Practitioner or if additional work needs to be done in order to provide an Addendum to the Report, then there may be an additional charge. If so, we will inform you of this and only proceed with your approval.


Client Examination
The General Practitioners do not normally need to see the Client in order to prepare a Report on the standard of care he/she has received. They can usually prepare their Report from the case notes and other documentation.
If the case does progress and a Report is needed on the Client’s current condition and/or prognosis for the future, then the Client may need to be seen by the General Practitioner for an examination and we can make the necessary arrangements.