PROFESSOR MICHAEL R WHITEHOUSE

Professor Whitehouse undertakes clinical negligence medicolegal work. He does not accept instructions for personal injury reports. His areas of specific expertise in which he accepts instructions are in primary and revision hip replacement, primary knee replacement, hip fractures and general Orthopaedic trauma (excluding spinal trauma). 

 

Professor Whitehouse has been trained in the preparation of medicolegal reports and delivery of evidence. Along with colleagues in their medicolegal practice, internal scrutiny and peer review of reports is conducted to ensure the highest standards in the reports that are prepared.

 

Where required, appointments for review of history and examination with claimants are available at the Spire Bristol Hospital or, by prior arrangement, at the claimant’s home or other sites. Reports may also be prepared from examination of medical records where this is appropriate.

 

Medical Negligence Reports

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Professor Whitehouse accepts instructions for the preparation of reports concerning allegations of medical negligence. Approximately 60% of instructions received are on behalf of the defence (e.g. solicitors instructed by NHS Resolution, formerly the NHS Litigation Authority, NHS Hospital Trusts or Private Insurers) and 40% on behalf of the claimant. Reports limited to liability and causation can usually be prepared from existing available medical records and imaging without the need for a face to face appointment. When the report requires an opinion on current conditions and future prognosis, a face to face consultation is required. The turnaround time from receipt of instructions and access to all required medical records for liability and causation reports is typically 6 to 8 weeks. When face to face consultations are required, the time for preparation of the report may vary according to the availability of the claimant and Professor Whitehouse for consultation. Please contact us for precise estimates. 

 

Personal Injury

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Professor Whitehouse does not accept instructions for personal injury cases.

 

Fee Structure, Terms and Conditions and CV

Please contact us for provision of full fee structure, terms and conditions and a copy of Professor Whitehouse’s medicolegal CV.

 

Instructions

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In order for us to consider whether we can accept instructions, we need to be provided with the name of the treating hospital and the clinicians directly involved in the delivery of the care for which negligence is alleged. This is so that we can ensure there is no conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, then in order to formally accept the instruction, the following will be required:

1.  Formal letter of instruction with the name and contact details of the person issuing the instruction, the name, address and date of birth of the claimant and details of the type of report instructed and details of the claim.

2. All medical records. We accept medical records either in hard copy or electronically on password protected digital media or, preferably, from a secure file server from which we can download the material. If medical records are not ordered into relevant sections and paginated, additional time will be taken to provide a thorough review of the records which will be charged at the standard hourly rate.

3. All relevant radiology images, either on password protected digital media or by download from a secure file server from which we can download the material. Please note, Professor Whitehouse is Mac based and provided images must be accessible on a Mac computer.

4. Return of a singed copy of Professor Whitehouse’s terms and conditions.

 

Destruction of Medical Records

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Please note that all copies of medical records will be destroyed 3 months following the completion and issuing of Professor Whitehouse’s report unless there is a specific justification why this should not be done. If this is the case, this needs to be specifically requested by the instructing party.