Learning the key to delivering an excellent service
Medicolegal experts are chosen because they often offer world-leading insight into particular conditions while still being driven by a desire for continuous learning.
Mr Chris Little is a good example. A surgeon specialising in upper limb orthopaedics, he has been a Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery in Oxford since 2005.
He is also one of TLA’s core experts, having worked for the company since it was founded almost 20 years ago.
He says: “I enjoy medicolegal work for a variety of reasons. It's very unusual to work up a case without identifying areas you are genuinely interested in or concerned by. You end up reading around the subject and refresh and update yourself on a lot of topics that are adjacent to your area of core practice and expertise. It also makes sure you think about things that could stand to be reviewed in your own clinical practice, so it does have an impact and keeps you at the forefront of your practice in all areas.”
Significantly, he is now increasing his medicolegal work for TLA in both personal injury and clinical negligence cases to one day per week.
“I've had some days when I've been able to just devote myself to it and I enjoyed it and got through a lot of work,” he adds.
The majority of Mr Little’s work with TLA is made up of complex cases.
“There are a lot of claimants that need time to be listened to, have their say and really get their story across. It's really important to be empathic with that. You must remember that these are people who have been through a lot and they need to be supported.
“There will also be a consultation element to the assessments because I have more time in the setting of a medicolegal assessment to delve down and make sure that over and above the factual components of their claim, I can answer questions they may have about their clinical care. I am not treating them but addressing their concerns and explaining things in a way they can understand is very important and helpful to many claimants.
“I hope they come away from it not just having had their claim considered but also with a better understanding of what's happened to them and what may happen to them going forward. A holistic approach is really important.”
Mr Little graduated from the University of Bristol in 1993 with degrees in Medicine and Physiology and undertook his initial surgical training in Bristol and Gloucester.
He carried out his orthopaedic and trauma surgery training in Oxford, working as a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Oxford (remaining an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in the University of Oxford) before completing a fellowship training in hand, wrist and elbow surgery at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and University Hospitals of Birmingham. He was awarded the Intercollegiate Board Examination in Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery in 2003.
His Oxford practice covers all aspects of elective and injury-related shoulder, elbow, hand, and wrist practice, conditions including carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, arthritis treatments, fractures, dislocations, scaphoid fractures, ligament injuries, rotator cuff surgery, de Quervain's treatment, trigger finger and Dupuytren's treatment.
His special interests include hand and wrist surgery (open, arthroscopic and the exciting and developing field of sonosurgery), shoulder surgery (arthroscopic and joint replacement) and elbow surgery (open and arthroscopic, including replacement, tennis elbow and stiffness), he was a contributor to the national elbow network project, leading the regional network.
He is actively involved in research projects on scaphoid surgery and shoulder rotator cuff repair and in the teaching and training of medical students and orthopaedic trainees in Oxford.
He has been an elected Council member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, leading on important national projects to develop and support delivery of patient care during the COVID pandemic for the British Orthopaedic Association as well as being heavily involved with multicentre studies about the cause, diagnosis and treatment ofscaphoid fractures, rotator cuff tears and frozen shoulders. He has also co-authored the musculoskeletal chapter of the Occupational Health Return to Work textbook.
He is also a member of the British Orthopaedic Association, The British Society for Surgery of the Hand and the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
As for his work with TLA, he is extremely complimentary.
“The team is extremely efficient and very supportive. I am sent notes about the things I really need to know about while I am kept away from the administration so I can concentrate on the individual cases which is what really matters,” he says.
Outside work he spends time with his family and dog, enjoying food and drink and traveling, although he is never far away from the medical world.
“I've travelled to China and I'm trying to develop clinical, training and research collaborations with major centres in the Sichuan province.”
Please email Alice Jones, Senior Case Manager and Head of the Trauma and Orthopaedics Division at TLA for Mr Little’s CV and further details alice@tla-medicolegal.com