Health-care incident—principal clinician specialty involved in health-care incident, clinical specialties code N[N]

Guide for use:

This data element should record the specialty of the clinician who played the most prominent role in the incident that gave rise to the medical indemnity claim; that is, the individual whose actions or omissions are directly implicated in ‘what went wrong’. The individual may or may not be a defendant in the medical indemnity claim.

Only one code may be selected for this data element.

The principal clinician specialty should usually relate to the primary incident or allegation type.

For a particular clinician, the specialty recorded should be the main clinical area in which that clinician has formal qualifications (or, in the case of a specialist-in-training, is working towards gaining formal qualifications), and/or in which that clinician primarily practices. The specialty recorded may not be the area in which the clinician was working at the time of the incident. For example, if a clinician involved in the incident was a general surgeon, but was working in the Emergency department when the incident occurred, Code 25 ‘General surgery’ should be recorded.

Where a private doctor was closely involved in the incident, the specialty of the private doctor should be recorded.

This data element should be completed on the basis of available information about the specialty of clinicians closely involved in the incident; specialty should not be assumed based on other information. For example, if the incident occurred in the course of repair to an aortic abdominal aneurysm, Code 66 ’Vascular surgery’ should only be recorded where there is information to confirm that a vascular surgeon was among the clinicians involved.

Where a registrar was closely involved in the incident, the specialty for which the registrar was training at the time of the incident should be recorded.

Where no clinical staff were involved in the incident (for example where the medical indemnity claim relates to actions of hospital administrative staff) Code 97 ‘Not applicable’ should be recorded.