Screening and merits reports
A screening and merits report gives an early, proportionate view on whether the available material supports further investigation. It identifies the clinical questions that can be answered now and those that need a fuller instruction.
Report scope
What this report is for
A screening and merits report gives an early, proportionate view on whether the available material supports further investigation. It identifies the clinical questions that can be answered now and those that need a fuller instruction.
The precise remit, documents and assumptions should be settled in the letter of instruction. An expert’s opinion is confined to their own discipline and the material provided.
Instruction requirements
A focused route to usable evidence
It is not a substitute for the later breach, causation or prognosis evidence where the case proceeds.
Defined questions
Identify the issues the report is asked to address.
Relevant records
Provide the material needed to form a properly bounded opinion.
Transparent assumptions
Separate facts assumed for the purpose of the report from clinical findings.
Independent opinion
The expert’s duty and the applicable procedural rules remain central.
Use the register to identify a suitable discipline, then agree the scope directly.
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Where this report sits
breach and causation reports and records review reports may be relevant before, alongside or after this report, depending on the issue and stage of the matter.
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