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Colorectal Disease and the Law: A Surgeon’s View

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Recent Advances in Coloproctology

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Abstract

The civil justice system in the UK is in the process of change and whether the most radical elements of these changes will be modified or remain unaltered is difficult to know. In 1996 there was Lord Woolf’s report on civil justice, which seeks to speed up the process of litigation and ensure that justice is widely available1. How these changes will impact on the colon and rectal surgeon in general and medical litigation is far from certain. Lord Woolf would like to see widening of arbitration to settle disputes with a fast track for disputes involving small potential amounts of money in damages. He has also suggested that the court should actively manage the more complex cases with a court-appointed expert. These changes have not been received with universal acclaim by the legal profession and there is justifiable doubt as to how the new system will work.

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Authors
  1. P. F. Schofield
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Colorectal Surgery, Singleton Hospital, SA2 8QA, Sketty, Swansea, UK

    John Beynon BSc, MS, FRCS  & Nicholas David Carr MD, FRCS  & 

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Schofield, P.F. (2000). Colorectal Disease and the Law: A Surgeon’s View. In: Beynon, J., Carr, N.D. (eds) Recent Advances in Coloproctology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0731-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0731-6_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1190-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-0731-6

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