General description of the work Consultant Pathologists undertake
Consultant Pathologists examine samples from the body in order to provide a disease diagnoses. They examine tissue specimens to diagnose or to grade or to out-rule malignancy. They undertake post-mortem examinations in order to determine the cause of death.


Most common clinical areas / procedures leading to a claim of clinical negligence
• Failure to diagnose malignancy
• Mis-diagnosis of malignancy
• Retention of organs following a post-mortem
• Cervical smear cytology mis-diagnoses
• Breast lump histology mis-diagnoses


Sub-Specialities / Alternative and Additional job titles
The Consultant Pathologist may specialise in a particular area of pathology such as histology (examination of tissues) and be known as a Consultant Histopathologist or cytology (examination of cells) and be known as a Consultant Cytologist.


Usual Qualifications
The Consultant Pathologists will have FRCPath (Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Pathologists) after their names.


Academic Appointments
The Consultant Pathologist may be a Lecturer or Professor in Pathology at a Medical School. He/She may be an Examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists.


Our Experts
The Consultant Pathologists who prepare reports on medical negligence cases on our behalf are all experienced NHS Consultants. They are in active clinical practice and they 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 Consultant Pathologists 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 Consultant.


The Report
The Consultant Pathologists 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 Consultant Pathologists 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 Hospital Records. This documentation will usually contain their Doctors’ Records, the Laboratory Investigations and Results, Operation Records, Nursing Records, Out-Patient Clinic Records, and Correspondence.
There may be tissue specimens and/or pathology slides. If these are related to the event in dispute then these may be of help to the Consultant Pathologist 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 Consultant Pathologist. 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 Consultant Pathologists 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 Consultant Pathologist. 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 Consultant Pathologists 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 Consultant Pathologist 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 Consultant Pathologists do not need to see the Client in order to prepare a Report on the standard of care he/she has received. They can normally prepare their Report from the case notes and other documentation.