Primary and acute care
Paediatric expert witnesses
Listed paediatric expert witnesses address the assessment, diagnosis and management of illness and injury in children, including the neonatal period. The sub-specialty required follows the clinical question rather than the age of the child alone.
01
The evidence
What a paediatrics expert witness is asked to determine
Paediatric evidence has to account for presentation that changes quickly and for a history given by someone other than the patient. Growth charts, observation records, feeding and developmental entries often carry more weight than a single consultation note.
- Whether the assessment and investigations undertaken were appropriate to the presentation and the child’s age.
- Whether deterioration was recognised and escalated within an appropriate period.
- Whether the neonatal course, including resuscitation and early management, is relevant to the outcome alleged.
- Whether developmental, growth or feeding concerns were identified and followed up.
- Where a general paediatric opinion ends and a sub-specialty such as neurology or neonatology is required.
Practitioners are listed across all four UK nations. Location can be narrowed in the register’s location listings before an instruction is made.
Claim contexts
Claims that instruct this discipline
These links describe the question paediatrics evidence can answer. They do not prescribe the scope of an individual instruction.
Birth injury and cerebral palsy claims
Neonatal course and later developmental evidence.
View claim type → 02Clinical negligence claims
Assessment, diagnosis and escalation in the care of a child.
View claim type → 03Brain injury claims
Acquired brain injury in childhood and its documented consequences.
View claim type →Search the register by the discipline used in the instruction.
See paediatrics listingsReport routes
Reports prepared
Paediatric records support a records review report covering the neonatal period, growth and subsequent attendances. A breach and causation report addresses the criticism and the consequence separately.
Where the claim concerns a child’s continuing needs, a condition and prognosis report is normally required from the relevant sub-specialty. The form requirements sit on the relevant report page.
Paediatric expert witness evidence
A paediatrician expert witness reads the child’s record across time rather than at a single point, and identifies where a sub-specialty opinion is needed.
The register publishes discipline and location; the instruction is settled between solicitor and practitioner. See the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health alongside the case material.
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