The Medical Protection Society Welcomes The New GMC Guidance For Expert Witnesses, UK

The Medical Protection Society welcomes the GMC guidance for medical expert witnesses published following a number of high profile court cases. MPS provides professional support and expert advice to doctors and dentists for the ethical and legal issues arising from their professional practice. This includes their work as expert witnesses. We have considerable firsthand experience of the challenges expert witnesses can face, and see these guidelines as essential in clarifying the GMC's expectations of doctors in this role. Dr Stephanie Bown, Director of Policy and Communications said: "In our experience over recent years, medical expert witnesses, particularly in child protection proceedings, have come under scrutiny about the quality of their evidence. The principles of expert witness immunity have also been increasingly... [read full story]