Solving the family expert shortage

These are among 22 recommendations made in the final report of the Working Group on Medical Experts in the Family Courts, published this week.

Other suggestions include greater engagement of professional bodies, making court paperwork and processes more efficient and improving local and regional co-ordination.

The report suggests that barristers, solicitors and judges be approached to assist with witness training, perhaps in conjunction with accredited training organisations. ‘Judges should be permitted to assist with training in working time and barristers and solicitors should be paid,’ it states. ‘The aim of this should not only be to assist the experts to give their best evidence, but also to dispel some of the anxieties many have about cross examination and the attitudes of the courts.’

The report uncovered one positive from the COVID-19 pandemic―remote hearings made attendance at court hearings less disruptive of clinical practice.

Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, said it had become ‘increasingly difficult’ in recent years to find experts willing to give evidence in family cases.

‘The shortage has not only been of clinical experts but also allied health professionals and independent social workers,’ he said.

‘Expert evidence is often necessary in order to decide cases justly and the reduction in available experts therefore presents a serious problem.’

The report notes: ‘Providing reports to the family courts is hugely time consuming and requires meticulous scrutiny of medical records and radiological imaging.

‘Psychological assessments often require consideration of medical and social services records. With the complexities and demands of practicing in the modern NHS, it is perhaps not surprising that few individuals are willing to take on the challenges of being a medical expert.’

Sir Andrew set up a working group of legal and health professionals, under Mr Justice David Williams, in autumn 2018, to investigate what could be done to resolve the issue.

View the report at: bit.ly/354N3hb.