General guidance relating to the provision of treatment by associates

Published: 19 November 2019

Following a number of enquiries regarding the provision of treatment in Road Traffic Accident (RTA) soft tissue injury claims, MedCo are clarifying the rules in relation to this below:
 
Where a first fixed recoverable cost medical report in an RTA soft tissue injury claim has been provided, the Pre-Action Protocol in Section 1.1 states the following;
 
(10A) 'fixed cost medical report' means a report in a soft tissue injury claim which is from a medical expert who, save in exceptional circumstances —
 
(a) has not provided treatment to the claimant;
(b) is not associated with any person who has provided treatment; and
(c) does not propose or recommend treatment that they or an associate then provide;
 
The Protocol also provides a definition of “associate” in section (1A). This states that;

‘associate’ means, in respect of a medical expert, a colleague, partner, director, employer or employee in the same practice and 'associated with' has the equivalent meaning;
 
In order to avoid a breach of the Protocol, an expert who provides the first fixed cost medical report should not provide (or have provided) treatment to the claimant and neither should a member of their organisation/team as defined.