When a Surgical Scar Becomes a Negligence Claim
A surgical scar becomes a negligence claim when it can be shown that the scarring came from a breach of the standard of care, not from an accepted risk of the operation, and that this breach is what actually caused or worsened the scar. Most surgical scars, even ones a patient is unhappy with, don’t […]
Facial Scarring and Disfigurement Claims
Compensation for facial scarring sits at the top of the scarring damages scale because visibility and psychological impact, not the size of the mark itself, are what the Judicial College Guidelines actually reward. A facial scar compensation award turns on how the scar reads to other people and on what living with it has done […]
How the Judicial College Guidelines Value Scarring
The Judicial College Guidelines value scarring by placing a case into one of several bands, running from trivial to very severe, set out in two separate chapters: one for facial scarring, one for scarring elsewhere on the body. A solicitor identifies the right chapter, finds the band that best fits the scar’s visibility, permanence and […]
What Is the Vancouver Scar Scale?
The Vancouver Scar Scale gives a scar a single score, from 0 to 13, based on four things a clinician can see and feel: how red or purple it looks, whether it’s lighter or darker than the surrounding skin, how flexible it is, and how raised it is above the surface. It was developed in […]
Keloid Scarring and Compensation
Keloid scarring compensation tends to sit higher than compensation for an ordinary scar of the same size, because keloids are harder to treat, prone to coming back, and often keep growing beyond the original wound. The value of a claim follows the clinical reality, not just how the scar looks on the day it’s assessed. […]
How Are Scarring Claims Valued in the UK?
Scarring claims are valued using the Judicial College Guidelines, the reference courts and solicitors use to put a figure on general damages. Where a scar sits within those guidelines depends on its visibility, its permanence, and the psychological impact it has, not simply its size. Two scars of a similar length can be valued very […]
How Are Expert Witnesses Regulated in the UK?
Expert witnesses in the UK are regulated in two separate ways at once. Doctors and other healthcare professionals answer to their own professional regulator, the GMC for doctors, the HCPC for professions like psychology, for how they conduct themselves in legal work. On top of that, membership bodies such as the Expert Witness Institute hold […]
Plastic Surgery Negligence Explained
Plastic surgery negligence is when a surgeon’s care falls below the standard reasonably expected of a competent practitioner in that specialty, and that failure causes harm. It’s a legal test, not simply a judgement about how a result looks. Being unhappy with an outcome isn’t the same as being a victim of negligence. Working out […]
Medical Malpractice Insurance for Physicians
In the UK, what’s usually called “malpractice insurance” in the US is known as medical indemnity insurance, or simply indemnity cover. Both describe the same thing: protection for a doctor against the cost of a claim arising from their clinical work. Indemnity cover pays for legal defence costs and, where a claim succeeds, any compensation […]
What Is Medico-Legal?
Medico-legal, also written medicolegal, describes anything that sits at the point where medicine and the law meet. In practice it means medical evidence, usually an expert report or examination, prepared to help a court, solicitor or insurer decide a legal question. This kind of report is written by a doctor for legal proceedings rather than […]