25 Nov 2020

Developing a Truly Unique Clinical Negligence Service

The Speed Medical clinical negligence service provision has been built and refined over several years. Pivotal to the department’s transition into a truly unique, case handler led reporting service has been our clinical negligence Account Manager, Katie Lynch – a clinical negligence lawyer who wanted to be able to present a team and service that not only stood out within the market, but delivered an exceptional experience for both customers and clients alike.

We sat down with Katie to find out about Speed Medical’s clinical negligence service, why it is so different and what she hopes the team can achieve over the next year.

Tell us about your career to date.

I have been a clinical negligence lawyer for 6 years, undertaking clinical negligence cases for a number of solicitor firms including Fenton’s.

I also spent some time at the Countess of Chester Hospital working with some of the legal and medical education teams. I worked with students and junior doctors to provide an insight into potential complaints, giving me the opportunity to utilise my skills in a different way and hopefully preventing incidents occurring and reaching complaints or potential claims.

Why did you move to Speed Medical?

My decision to join Speed Medical was based on the opportunity to do something different again within the clinical negligence arena. The drive and commitment of Speed to enhance their clinical negligence offering and work with firms to assist them at the most crucial investigative stages of their cases was evident at the outset and I wanted to be a part of this. The lawyer led approach was innovative and I could see the benefits this could bring to fee earners, their clients and ultimately our customers.

I am a lawyer and therefore I have been in fee earner’s shoes when it comes to using an agency. Every clinical negligence case is different, and I always wanted to feel confident in the agency I chose that they had the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to deal with the case at hand. For example, having a case handler to deal with all my cases from start to finish was something I was unable to find with any provider and now I am able to be a part of providing such necessary things to ensure we assist with exactly what is needed on a particular case.

What is your main objective within your role?

To obtain the confidence of fee earners that we have the skills and knowledge to assist with the vital elements of investigating and obtaining the medical evidence for a clinical negligence case.

Providing excellent experts for all evidential elements required in a clinical negligence case. Continuing to grow and develop our clinical negligence services and provide the best possible service to our customers.

Was the move from lawyer to account manager a difficult one?

No – I strongly believe that what we have created is a great benefit to firms so it was a natural transition to be able to talk directly to clinical negligence teams about how we can assist, and the benefits of utilising our services.

I will always happily talk to anyone about their clinical negligence cases, what issues or challenges they face and explore how we can assist.  I always think I talk too much when I am asked about what Speed Medical can provide but I am really passionate about what we have established so I will keep talking until I am told not to!

What makes Speed Medical’s clinical negligence service so different?

There are a number of reasons we differ however, the in-house legal and medical team we have established (my input to creating the service as an in-house clinical negligence lawyer is something that I am unaware any other agency provides). In addition, the highly trained and dedicated clinical negligence case handlers who will be your single point of contact from start to conclusion on cases and who really care about the work they are undertaking seem to be two of the standouts.

Whilst our clinical negligence service is incredibly unique and can be tailored to individual requirements, we are still able to offer attractive commercials to support firms with the financial commitment to these cases. We remove all barriers to our expert panel and offer our customers the ability to liaise directly with experts and provide transparent fee information and breakdowns when requested.

Why is it important to partner with an experienced agency?

The investigative stages of a clinical negligence case are crucial and ensuring you have the best possible experts with the relevant expertise is of paramount importance. However, other factors include the financial commitments such as expert fees and screening of cases so if you can partner with an agency to assist with easing some of these challenges whilst proactively progressing a case then the time and money saved is of great benefit.

What are the key benefits of the Speed Medical clinical negligence service?

There are a whole host of benefits when instructing Speed Medical including:

 

• The reassurance of having the in-house legal and medical team as support.
• Dedicated case handlers dealing with all elements of your cases from start to conclusion.
• The removal of barriers that cause frustrations – the ability to liaise with experts directly, instructing preferred experts, the ability to obtain information such as a breakdown of our fees.
• Competitive commercials and fees – transparency in our fees, I will always discuss how our fees are calculated and explain how we provide a quote on all our services so fee earners can review and approve prior to instruction. Commercially, our terms enable flexibility to choose fee models and we will tailor this to suit your requirements.
• Access to an eminent panel of over 1000 experts who have proven experience in clinical negligence cases and our ongoing commitment to clinical governance.

What are the most common complaints of solicitors you speak to about their reporting partner?

A lack of knowledge, lack of communication and as a result a lack of confidence that the agency can assist with cases. Our case handlers are heavily invested in all cases and deal with each element from start to conclusion, working on their cases daily.

Fee transparency, being able to understand how a fee is calculated and obtain a breakdown when required - this is always something I address at the outset and discuss the options available.

Not being able to liaise directly with experts which can be crucial at times on a clinical negligence case. We provide direct contact details for an expert when required, alternatively, if a customer wants to instruct their preferred experts, they can liaise directly with them and instruct via Speed for the commercial benefits.

What has been the highlight of your time so far at Speed Medical?

Establishing the clinical negligence team and working together to continue to develop and grow this area has been a great achievement. Receiving positive feedback is always rewarding but as one solicitor put it recently “you just get it Katie because you are a clinical negligence lawyer.”

What are you hoping to achieve in the next 12 months?

Continued growth and development within the clinical negligence arena stemming from the excellent team we have here. The aim is to eradicate the preconception that agencies are unable to provide clinical negligence services to such an excellent standard. We have proved this with the firms we work with and we want to prove to other firms that we can do this for them also.

To find out more about Speed Medical’s clinical negligence service or to discuss a case you currently have, email katie.lynch@speedmedical.com