The value of having in-house expertise is increasingly apparent following a shake-up in legal funding in recent years. For instance, defence costs orders in criminal cases have been scrapped for privately-funded defendants. This has significant cost implications for MDOs who need to instruct external solicitors because there is no prospect of getting this money back if the member is found not guilty.

But for doctors who do not belong to an MDO, private legal representation is likely to be prohibitively expensive, leaving them dependent on the legal aid system, which even then could require significant ongoing contribution.Nick Tennant says: “The MDU’s resources put our members at a distinct advantage because of the time we can devote to cases and the funds at our disposal to instruct the necessary experts and barristers. With publicly funded work, solicitors are limited by what the Legal Aid Agency will permit.”

“It comes to this,” adds Ian Barker, “if you are accused of an offence, you are up against the CPS and police who have extraordinary resources and the ability to investigate. The MDU provides phenomenal back-up when it comes to legal representation, which starts to redress the balance.”

Preparing for a police interview

There are two stages to the service provided by the criminal solicitors. The first, if possible, is to prepare the member for a police investigation before they step anywhere near the station. This is hugely important for members who are completely ‘interview-naïve’ because police officers are often very experienced, have access to expert advice and will have worked out their interview strategy in advance. As Ian puts it: “You can rarely win a case in a police interview, but if you don’t know what you are doing you can certainly badly damage it.”

There may be other surprises in store. For example, a doctor who voluntarily attends a London police station for questioning about a manslaughter allegation may not expect to face detectives from a murder investigation team. However, the MDU solicitors will warn the member that this can be standard procedure so they are not unsettled by the introductions before the interview begins.

If the member is charged, the second stage is the run-up to a trial when MDU solicitors devote a significant amount of time to looking after the member and being available for them. “Our assistance is both legal in the preparation of the case, and pastoral because half the battle is producing a situation where the doctor can cope with the trial process. And that comes to a large extent from the support we give, as well as their own ability to handle the process.”

Pressures of investigation

The pressures for members under investigation can be overwhelming. A doctor who has a family and is accused of a sexual assault will almost certainly be assessed by social services and could be separated from their children, or not allowed to be alone with them in the house.

The police may impose conditions of bail at the point of arrest that effectively prevent the doctor from practising and earning a living, such as prohibiting them from treating any female patients, even in the presence of a chaperone.

And there is often press intrusion, as Sara Mason describes: “I had a case where a member was charged with three counts of sexual assault. The allegations concerned a single patient during a single consultation but the local paper reported the case as if it was three different patients, and included the member’s address.” In this situation, the solicitors will alert the MDU’s press office, who can advise the member on how best to handle an approach from a journalist. They will also be in regular communication with the MDU medico-legal adviser who co-ordinates the different elements of the member’s case.

In defence of doctors

In defence of doctors