ISSUE 54 EWJ web - Journal - Page 26
not recall any specific legal based session during my
Master’s degree. Furthermore, having recently reviewed the core modules of many different advanced
practice Master’s degrees, I was unable to find
anything relating to law, civil or otherwise.
References
NHS Resolution (2023) Annual report and accounts
2022/23.
Having previously worked as a guest lecturer on post
registration courses, I did plant the seed of introducing a specific medical negligence session, which was
gratefully received and was a success the handful of
times that I was able to present it. Unfortunately, budget always prevails, and it is not something that was
able to continue.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2018) Future nurse:
Standards of proficiency for registered nurses.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2019) Standards of
proficiency for midwives.
Royal College of Nursing (2018) Royal College of
Nursing Standards for Advanced Level Nursing
Practice.
Thoughts for future nursing and midwifery
education.
As a trainer and mentor for expert witnesses, I have
heard from experts time and time again how their
work as an expert witness, along with the training we
provide at Somek and Associates, has both improved
and informed their clinical practice. My own expert
witness and clinical experience mirrors this. There is
no doubt that my work as an expert witness dramatically changed my practice and documentation, and I
was always a bit of a documentation pedant prior to
being an expert! Yet as an expert I understand what
constitutes meaningful and thorough documentation,
I know what I am looking for to satisfy my enquiries
regarding whether the care was within standard. My
overarching thought here is – shouldn’t every
clinician understand this?
Author
Michelle Caton-Richards
Registered Nurse
MSc Advanced Healthcare Practice , PG Cert,
Independent Prescribing , Dip HE Adult Nursing
The simple answer is yes, every clinician should know
what they should be doing, and what they should be
documenting, to ensure that the care they have provided was within standard, and that there is evidence
of such. I consider that this knowledge is tightly linked
with medical negligence, and the role of the expert
witness. Awareness of the medico-legal process does, in
my experience, assist in underpinning the care we
provide as clinicians.
Michelle qualified as a Registered Nurse in 2003 and
has spent most of her clinical career in the accident
and emergency department, and more recently, in the
urgent and unscheduled care setting. During her
career she has worked in many different emergency
departments in London, Surrey, Berkshire and Lincolnshire, a deliberate attempt to gain as much varied
experience as possible.
Therefore, it is my opinion that if the medical
negligence process, including the role of the expert
witness, was explicitly taught in the university setting
to nurses and midwives (or any patient facing clinician) there would be a better understanding of the
legal implications of practice, and subsequently patient
care would improve as a result. Furthermore, if the
role of the expert witness was more widely known and
understood, it may also result in increased interest
in the role, and more experts available to take
instructions and assist the court.
Michelle currently work for Somek and Associates as
the deputy lead for quality assurance and training (liability). This role involves providing quality assurance
and training to new associates, to develop their role as
a confident and competent expert witness, as well as
responsibilities pertaining to the wider business, such
as recruitment, client engagement and process development. She also continues to maintain her own expert witness work through Somek and Associates.
Maintaining her clinical credibility through working
regular locum shifts as an ANP. She loves to teach and
inspire, and was proud to have recently been involved
in the roll out of the Community Pharmacy Consultation Service within Primary Care Networks. Her role
in this project involved teaching community pharmacists nationwide how to take a detailed history from
patients, and how to undertake various clinical skills.
During the Covid pandemic, she worked as a Covid
vaccinator, assisting in the vaccination programme in
her local area.
For me, being an expert is not about criticism or finger pointing, but about advocating the standard of
care that patients are entitled to receive, and equally,
recognising when the Defendant has done nothing
wrong. I have no doubt that most nursing and midwifery expert witnesses feel the same, yet in my experience the role is so very misunderstood. For me, the
introduction of the medico legal process and the role
of the expert witness in to nursing and midwifery
training can only be a positive move, for patients, NHS
Trusts, nurses, midwives, and our legal colleagues
alike.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
24
APRIL 2024