Mobile Doctors Newsletter - November 2009

"I'm pleased to welcome you to the third edition of Mobile Doctor's Newsletter, which we hope to publish every quarter to keep you up to date with our latest developments, upcoming events and general news. We would welcome any comments and feedback to help us develop what we hope will become an informative read.

You can now also follow us on YouTube where you'll find interviews and comments from a variety of industry issues keeping you up to date on our views.

In this edition you can hear my views on the impact of claims process reform on medical evidence.

After months of wrangling and delay, we now know what the government's intentions are for the reform of the claims process in basic road traffic accidents. Many companies in the personal injury sector have been concerned about the effect this will have on their business models.

In recent articles and leaders published in industry magazines the fees that claimant solicitors will be paid under the new structure have been central to the debate. The speculation on the costs and fees now being looked at has led some to believe claimant personal injury solicitors could face a cut of up to 53% in the fees they receive.

It begs the question therefore; exactly how will these changes affect the medical evidence and rehabilitation sectors? After all, the point of these changes was to produce a more balanced and streamlined RTA claims regime.

You can track further comments by me and other industry commentators on YouTube"

Webinars with Mobile Doctors
Watch out for future comments by leading experts from AXA, the Claims Standards Council, The Association of Medical Reporting Organisations, APIL and MASS.

Mobile Doctors will also be holding a series of Webinars on latest developments in the reforms and trying to help people understand how these changes will affect our clients. The first broadcast will be in association with AMRO and discuss the reforms with a follow-up webinar with the Claims Standards Council discussing how the reforms will affect claims management companies. Your host putting the questions to our guests will be Neil Rose from the Law Gazette.

If you are interested in finding out more please contact Hope Grant - hope@mobile-doctors.co.uk 

PART 35 - Civil Procedure Rules
Fundamental amendments to Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules came into force in England and Wales on 1 October 2009. Mobile Doctors is ensuring that all our examiners are aware of the update, which requires them to sign a revised Statement of Truth and the new Declaration of Awareness.

This will demonstrate to instructing solicitors that they now need to look for evidence that an expert is ‘current' and has the required understanding for them to produce reports. If experts do not have this included on their reports the progress of claimants' cases will be delayed, resulting in unnecessary costs.

The statement / declaration to be signed by experts reads: "I confirm that I have made clear which facts and matters referred to in this report are within my own knowledge and which are not. Those that are within my own knowledge I confirm to be true. The opinions I have expressed represent my true and complete professional opinions on the matters to which they refer. I am aware of the requirements set out in Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules and the accompanying Practice Direction, the Protocol for the Instructions of Experts to give Evidence in Civil Claims, and the Practice Direction for Pre-action conduct".

The full update to the Part 35 of the CPR can be found at: www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/parts/part35.htm

TNT - How we have beaten the Postal strikes
Having witnessed the massive disruption the recent postal dispute caused, we are pleased that we made the strategic decision to outsource all our print and post processing to TNT. Using the latest leading-edge technology for the delivery of high quality scanning, print and delivery has allowed us to maintain a high quality service during the strikes. In the past 4 months we have processed the following:

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Over 1 million images scanned

Tnt

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Over 1 hundred thousand letters sent

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Over 2 million pages printed

Corex = Speedier Reports
Many of our examiners now use the Corex medical report writing software, which is fully integrated with our case management system.

Corex represents the latest technology allowing a medico-legal expert GP to deliver reports electronically in a format that is compatible with the valuation systems of leading insurers.

It also delivers a uniquely flexible platform for completing reports. This flexibility gives the medical expert tools to examine claimants in any setting, with or without internet access and from any computer that has a web browser.

Corex provides a much improved turnaround time of quality reports for our clients.

News
Mobile Doctors recent support for the following charitable causes;

Steelers Basketball team
Over 200 guests attended the Sheffield Steelers Wheelchair Basketball Club Casino Royale Ball on the 1st October - The Steelers' story is a one of sheer determination, a swift rise to success and international recognition. The annual fundraising ball managed to gain significant support from local businesses. Commenting on the event supported by Mobile Doctors - Neil Ross said " we are so pleased to have been able to help this wonderful charity - the money raised at this event will be used to help start a new women's team and we hope this now becomes an annual event."

Read more about the charity at http://www.sheffield-steelers.co.uk/

Backup Trust
This year Mobile Doctors supported the annual backup ball, which raised over £16,000. Everyone who attended was moved by some of the stories and awards given to so many brave individuals.

Over 40,000 people in the UK have a spinal cord injury (SCI), the majority of whom are wheelchair users. Back-Up is a small, dynamic and professional charity that runs a range of services for people with SCI as well as their friends, family and volunteers to encourage independence, self-confidence and motivation following a life changing injury.

For more information on the charity http://www.backuptrust.org/

Brake Road Safety Charity
Mobile Doctors is pleased to announce its continued support Brake for the next 12 months. National Road Safety Week is from 23rd - 29th November. For more information on brake visit http://www.brake.org.uk/

Events
Mobile Doctors exhibited at and sponsored the following events:

MASS Conference - 12th - 13th November - Mobile Doctors hosted a pre-Conference dinner at Shoreditch House and exhibited at the Conference

Coming up
Over the next 3 months a lot will be happening in the sector and we will endeavour to promote our views and knowledge to our clients. Claims Process Reform and the impending Jackson review are due to be a continued topic of interest and we have set-up an area on our new website to keep you up to date with all the news and views from the sector - this can be visited at:

http://www.mobile-doctors.co.uk/