Proofreading, editing and formatting of medico-legal reports

If you are an expert witness, you will be aware of the intricacies of writing medico-legal reports. These reports are a crucial part of any clinical negligence claim or personal injury claim. In addition to complying with strict regulations and legal principles when preparing such reports, as an expert witness you will have to communicate often complex medical issues in a clear and straightforward way to readers who may have limited medical knowledge. And usually in a very short time scale.

This is where you may encounter difficulties and end up with the ‘communication void’ referred to in the invaluable Writing Medico-Legal Reports in Civil Claims: An Essential Guide, written by Giles Eyre and Lynden Alexander.

When I proofread or edit your reports I aim to bridge that void. Using my medical knowledge and my understanding of the legal principles involved, and always keeping in mind the non-medical target audience, I offer the following:

• Clarification and rewording: if anything is unclear on first reading or if a point has been made using jargon or complex medical phraseology that could be misunderstood, I leave clear queries and/or make or suggest improvements.
• Accuracy and precision: I make sure that the language used, including specialist terminology, is correct and precise.
• Grammar, spelling, style and consistency: all these are checked with meticulous attention. This includes the spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation or otherwise of all medical terms and drug names.
• Flow and structure: I ensure that reports are easy to read, clearly structured and set out in the form required by the court.
• Formatting: The overall look of your reports needs to be logical and pleasing. I check and, if requested, adjust the existing layout and formatting, and update all page numbering, tables of contents, headings and cross-references. 
• Fact-checking: I work through a long list of checks and cross-checks, from medical details right down to all the dates, postcodes and spellings of names in the report.
• Checking facts across your report: I will cross-check that any facts/figures mentioned in the body of the report, e.g. scores in neuropsychology assessments, tally with those set out in the appendices.
• Content-checking: for example, if the solicitor has instructed you to answer specific questions, I ensure that each one has been answered satisfactorily.
• Speed: I turn most reports around within 2-3 business days as standard but, depending on the length, I can turn reports around within 24 hours if required, or even same-day for shorter reports.
• Transcription: if you would like dictated reports transcribed, please see here for more information.
• Personalised and fully confidential and secure service: if you have particular requirements for your reports, I will be happy to discuss them with you.

My fees for medico-legal work vary depending on the level of editing and/or formatting needed and your required turnaround. As a guideline they start at £14 per 1000 words though the average is usually in the £15-£19 range. I charge a higher rate for reports that need heavy editing, same-day or 24-hour turnaround, and weekend and evening work. And I have a minimum fee of £50 per report.

Translation, proofreading, editing and formatting of medical and other health-related texts

If you have a document that is in any field of health, I can probably help with it. My many years of experience in-house at the Council of Europe and then running my own businesses have equipped me to work on documents in the following areas:

• Autism and Aspergers
• ADHD, ADD
• Medical ethics and bioethics
• Nursing and healthcare
• Psychology and mental health
• Anatomy, physiology and pathology
• Control and classification of medicines, blood transfusion, organ transplants
• Medical communications, including brand books, patient-focused publications, healthcare advertising, educational materials for health professionals, slide decks for presentations
• Global health and nutrition, maternal and child health, infectious diseases
• Complementary/alternative medicine, popular medicine
• Sport, fitness, specialised diets, food science and optimum nutrition

My clients include doctors, medical communications agencies, private individuals, corporate clients, nursing and medical students, publishers in the field of health and medicine, international organisations and international development consultancies.

My fees vary depending on the level of editing and/or formatting needed, your required turnaround, and how technical or specialised your document is. I can charge an hourly rate, a day rate, per 1000 words, or a fixed fee for the whole project.