Personal Injury

Good practice commitments (training, supervision, systems).

No equivalent requirement.

Claimant begins by requesting records, which must be provided within 40 days.

Claimant begins with a letter of claim.

Letter of claim should be acknowledged within 14 days.

Letter of claim should be acknowledged within 21 days .

Proceedings should not be issued until after 3 months from letter of claim.

Similar requirement - claimant should wait for decision on liability which should be given within 3 months of acknowledgment of claim.

Any admissions will be binding.

An admission of liability will be binding provided value of claim does not exceed £15,000.

Both sides will already have most of the documents but if liability is denied any additional documents relied upon, should be produced.

If liability is denied, the defendant must disclose all relevant documents with his denial - Annex B to the protocol.

Economy in the use of experts is urged, but it is acknowledged that in clinical negligence the parties will "require flexibility".

Economy in the use of experts is urged, and before either side instructs an expert the other side should have an opportunity to participate in the choice of expert - note the unsatisfactory 14 day time limit for objecting to a choice of expert, and the lack of guidance to experts about their duty to be impartial.

If the parties agree on liability but need more time to consider quantum, they should aim to agree a reasonable period (litigation should therefore be a last resort).

If liability is admitted, any medical report should be disclosed and the claimant should delay issuing proceedings for 21 days to enable negotiations to take place. But note general requirement in the practice direction:

2.13 Parties and their legal representatives are encouraged to enter into discussions and/or negotiations prior to starting proceedings. The protocol does not specify when or how this might be done but parties should bear in mind that the courts increasingly take the view that litigation should be a last resort, and that claims should not be issued prematurely when a settlement is in reasonable prospect.

Patients and their advisors should inform the healthcare provider when the patient is satisfied that the matter is concluded and legal advisors should say when they are no longer acting for the patient.

No equivalent requirement. The defendant may find he has to waste precious time investigating a claim which the claimant has no intention of pursuing further.