Cost of Care Reports

Cost of Care Reports

Quantum Expert Reports / Cost of Care Reports

The court will, in assessing damages, attempt to put the claimant back in the position they would have been in but for the injury suffered. That, in the case of serious or catastrophic injury, is not possible, so the court has to decide how best to bridge the gap. The court will look to apply what is effectively a reasonableness test to the assessment of damages, and it is that test, on the balance of probabilities, that a nursing expert like myself applies.

It is our intention to provide you with an opinion that will assist you to advance your clients case on their behalf. So we will give our proper view on the evidence, and an opinion that is justifiable.

Our quantum reports will provide

• a cover page,
• content/index page,
• introduction incl. a statement of what issues the instructing solicitor has requested
• author’s statement of qualifications,
• documents considered,
• Assessment Methodology
• case abstract / summary,
• social history,
• medical history,
• chronology of care/events leading up to and including the index event, including inserts of the most important documentation,
• visit & assessment/examination details incl. ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living Assessment),
• observations,
• opinion,
• detailed costings with tables of schedules and a summary of costing that are very easy to navigate and understand.
• signed statement of truth,
• glossary,
• references
• and appendices including author’s CV.

Condition, prognosis and quantum expert evidence, as with liability expert evidence, requires an evidential basis.

Whereas liability experts are invariably interested in the past, quantum evidence is often more the art of prediction. After all, if a claimant is 20 years of age and has a normal or near to normal life expectancy, an expert is going to have to come to a view as to the most likely outcome, not what will happen. This must all be based on information from which the expert can draw the important points.

Experts will be able to use their experience and professional judgment to predict the prognosis, but the evidential basis for it should be clearly set out.

To provide our expert view, it is paramount, we visit the client and make our own examination and/or assessment of the claimant, often in their own home.

• We may also interview family members and close friends.
• We reference all of our information obtained and cross-reference this to witness statements as necessary.
• We like to give claimants and family members the opportunity to set out their take on the situation, and their wants and hopes for the future.
• We will also refer to professionals and others who work for the claimant and give them the opportunity to reflect on what has been done to date, what works and what does not. This feedback will be tested by us during our own examination/assessment.
• If required, we will refer to other experts for aspects of their own opinion. Consider, for example, the spinal injuries expert providing the other experts with the basis for the condition, on which they will comment on specific points (for example urology, orthopaedic surgery).
• We always reference supportive material in an appendix at the end of our reports.
• We keep our report clear and concise and provide additional information on bulky subjects (for example, discussion of a specific feature of the condition such as post-traumatic epilepsy, syringomyelia or the risk of loss of a residual limb) to the appendix.
• We form a view on what is probable and reasonable for each case, on the basis of the available evidence.
• We will provide an opinion that is clear and user friendly in order to assist the court to come to judgment.

For further information or assistance, please call Siobhan on her direct line 01 493 6948 or email info@mcscasemanagement.ie

Besides Expert witness work, Siobhan has been promoting and providing integrated case management services in Ireland working with solicitors and the office of the wards of court. Click here to read more about Case Management.