Surgery
Perioperative expert witnesses
Listed perioperative expert witnesses address theatre practice: checklists, counts, positioning, instrument handling and the systems that surround an operation. Their evidence concerns process rather than surgical judgement.
01
The evidence
What a perioperative practice expert witness is asked to determine
Perioperative instructions usually follow a never event or a positioning injury. Swab and instrument count records, the safety checklist, positioning documentation and staffing rotas establish whether the process failed and at which point, which is a different question from whether the surgeon erred. Staffing levels, handover between shifts and the competence of the person allocated to a role frequently form part of the same instruction.
- Whether the safety checklist was completed and recorded as intended.
- Whether swab, needle and instrument counts were performed and reconciled.
- Whether patient positioning and pressure care followed accepted practice.
- Whether decontamination, instrument tracking or implant checking is material to the incident.
- Where a process failing ends and a clinical judgement question begins.
Practitioners are listed across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. 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 perioperative practice evidence can answer. They do not prescribe the scope of an individual instruction.
Clinical negligence claims
Theatre process, counts and positioning during an operation.
View claim type → 02Personal injury claims
Injury sustained through positioning or retained material.
View claim type → 03Inquests
Theatre process evidence where the circumstances of a death are examined.
View claim type →Search the register by the discipline used in the instruction.
See perioperative practice listingsReport routes
Reports prepared
Checklists, count records and theatre registers support a records review report. A breach and causation report addresses the consequence of the process failing.
Surgical or anaesthetic evidence is normally required alongside a perioperative opinion. Each report page records what that route must contain.
Perioperative expert witness evidence
A perioperative expert witness addresses the system around the operation, and says plainly where the question passes to the operating surgeon.
Listings show the discipline and the areas covered, and enquiries go to the practitioner. See the Association for Perioperative Practice alongside the case material.
Directory search
Perioperative listings
Perioperative Expert Witness Cases & Claims
Related expert witness specialties
Questions answered
Frequently asked questions
Will a Perioperative expert witness respond to Part 35 questions?
Yes - CPR 35.6 entitles the parties to put written questions on a report, and answering them is part of the expert's duty to the court. A Perioperative report prepared for proceedings in England and Wales carries the Part 35 statement of truth, with equivalent duties applying in the other UK jurisdictions.
Can a Perioperative expert act as a single joint expert?
Where the court directs a single joint expert under CPR 35.7, the instruction is agreed between the parties and put jointly - a routine basis of instruction in this field. Whether a particular practitioner accepts SJE appointments is confirmed with the practitioner at the enquiry stage.
Will the expert attend joint discussions or give evidence at trial?
Where the court directs discussions between experts under CPR 35.12, they meet and produce a joint statement of what is agreed and what is disputed; attendance at trial - in person or by video link - is likewise a matter of court direction. These commitments are confirmed with the practitioner at instruction.
Can I choose a Perioperative expert of a specific gender, or one who assesses remotely?
Yes on both counts. Every listing displays the practitioner's gender, consulting locations and assessment types - face to face, remote or both - so sensitive-instruction preferences can be applied at the shortlisting stage, before any contact is made.