Understanding the process
We talk a lot about what a Care Expert needs in terms of experience but are you fully aware of the process a Care Expert fits into? We’ve simplified the story below, but we hope it gives you an idea of how a case may run.
A Care Expert is required to quantify the needs of an individual to return them, or as close as possible, to the quality of life they had before sustaining a catastrophic injury.
So, an individual, let’s call him Bob, is knocked off his bicycle and it wasn’t his fault. The driver of a car was driving without care and attention and Bob now has catastrophic life-changing injuries. His life is now following a different path and he will need ongoing care, equipment and aids, as well as adaptations to his house. Bob wasn’t at fault so he can make a personal injury claim and instructs a solicitor. (This would follow a similar pathway for any form of clinical negligence).
Bob is now the claimant. Two, three or four years pass whilst Bob has been going through rehabilitation which has been overseen by a case manager and the solicitor. Bob is now back in the community, living at home, and it is now that Jacqueline Webb are instructed by the solicitor to provide a Care Expert report.
In order to marry up the right expert to the case we consider Bob’s location, the injuries that Bob sustained and the capacity of our Experts in that area. The right Expert is selected and booked to visit him in his home to perform a functional assessment and gather the information they need to provide the report.
Our Expert has now met Bob, carried out the assessment, and completed their report based on their independent and impartial opinion. That report is thoroughly checked and sent to the solicitors by our head office team. At this point, your involvement with Bob may stop, but that does not mean that the case has settled yet. The case will remain open until the solicitors have agreed the settlement figure or the case goes to court. This can take many years.
One year has passed since our J Webb Expert completed the report and some new evidence has come to light regarding Bob’s rehabilitation. Our Expert is asked to amend their report if the evidence changes their opinion on his needs. This is quite common and don’t worry, you won’t be required to start again, these are smaller pieces of update work.
Several years have passed and the solicitors have now agreed the settlement figure for Bob. The case is then closed and Bob is able to spend the money on the recommendations you have made. As a Care Expert you would work on Bobs case as required until it settles, this could be a number of years!
Hopefully, that paints the picture and as always, we are here to answer any questions.