OFFICE OF SALARIED MEDICALLY QUALIFIED MEMBER
JOB DESCRIPTION
I. Purpose of Office: The purpose of judicial office is to administer justice
according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
II. Jurisdiction: A salaried medically qualified panel member will be assigned to
the Social Entitlement Chamber to hear Social Security Appeals.
The geographical jurisdiction of the Tribunal comprises England, Scotland and
Wales, divided into judicial and administrative regions. At the present time there
are some 130 venues throughout Great Britain, although their precise location
may be subject to change. The President of the Social Entitlement Chamber is
responsible for the functions of the tribunal. Tribunals, like the courts, are
independent judicial bodies.
III. Main Duties
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Sitting as a medically qualified panel member, including sitting on
complex cases. Please refer to the fee-paid medical member job
description annexed for the main activities of a medical panel
member.
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Appraising the performance of medical members in the Region,
identifying training and development needs.
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Participating in judicial training, including the development and
delivery of training material.
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Providing support to the Chief Medical Member.
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Conducting on site supportive visits, including observations and
training. This will be at the location of the fee-paid medical members
sitting and could be anywhere across the relevant half of the region.
Other duties will include
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Carrying out such other duties as the Chamber President and Regional
Judges may require
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The appointment is likely to involve travel, this could include overnight
stays.
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Medical Members are expected to be IT literate and to make the fullest
use possible of electronic means of research and communication.
11 February 2015
Annex
JOB DESCRIPTION
FEE-PAID MEDICALLY QUALIFIED MEMBER, FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL
CHAMBER, SOCIAL ENTITLEMENT CHAMBER
The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal hears appeals relating to a
wide variety of benefit decisions made by central and local government. Whilst every
tribunal includes a Tribunal Judge (who may be a salaried judge or a solicitor or
barrister who sits on a fee-paid basis), the composition of each individual tribunal is
determined by the nature of the appeal. Many appeals involve medical issues, and
these will be heard by a tribunal which includes a medical practitioner, and in some
cases, also a member with particular knowledge of disability issues. Appeals heard
by a tribunal which includes a doctor are those relating to:
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Disability living allowance and Personal Independence Payments
Employment & support Allowance / incapacity benefit
Benefit for industrial injury or disease
Recovery of benefit from compensation for injury, and recovery of NHS
charges
Vaccine damage payments (although these are uncommon)
Appeals for claims under the Mesothelioma schemes
Allocation to sit on cases involving industrial injury or disease is usually limited to
those medical practitioners possessing relevant specialist knowledge such as
orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists, rheumatologist’s chest physicians and
specialists in occupational health.
Main Activities
The Tribunal has an inquisitorial function. The main activities of a medically qualified
member are:Preparing for a hearing
Reading and assimilating appeal papers before the hearing commences, including on
occasions the study of substantial amounts of complex documentary evidence. Such
preparatory work is necessary regardless of whether the appellant has opted for an
oral hearing of the appeal or it is to be determined on the basis of the appeal papers
alone. In particular, the medically qualified member will be expected to use his or her
professional expertise to analyse the medical evidence provided and to advise other
members of the tribunal.
Determination of appeals
In conjunction with the Tribunal Judge and (where appropriate) the other tribunal
member, deciding appeals by considering facts, applying the relevant law to them
and where required, contributing to the giving of a reasoned written judgement by the
Tribunal Judge. In some cases relating to industrial injury or disease, it may be
necessary for medical members to carry out a medical examination at the hearing.
Conduct of Hearings
In conjunction with other members, ensuring that hearings are conducted efficiently
and effectively in a manner which is compatible with the interests of natural justice.
Availability
Medical members are required to be available to sit for a minimum of 15 days a year
and to attend up to 3 training days in addition. Many members currently sit at levels
significantly higher than the minimum, but are free to decline to do so should other
commitments make this impracticable.
Conflicts of interest.
All of those appeals which require the presence of a medical member on a Tribunal
arise from decisions made by the Department of Work and Pensions. Most include
medical reports prepared by doctors engaged either by the DWP or by ATOS on
behalf of the DWP. Following the decision in Secretary of Work and Pensions v.
Cunningham [2004] Scot CS 211, the tribunal is unable to deploy medical members
who are or who have recently been regularly engaged in the preparation of such
reports, in any location where either their own reports may fall to be considered by
the tribunals where they themselves sit, or where other judicial office holders with
whom they have previously sat may have to consider such reports.
Any such candidate must be able to demonstrate that their particular circumstances
(for example by reason of having moved home and seeking appointment
geographically distant from the area where the examinations were carried out) are
such that the above limitations on their deployment is of no relevance.
Clinical experience
A licence to practise (as distinct from registration with the GMC) is not a requirement
of appointment, but candidates should have experience of clinical practice and, must
be able to demonstrate relevant up to date knowledge.