Cardiology Expert Witness Reports for UK Solicitors — Claimants & Defendants
Twelve report types, each prepared by GMC-registered consultant cardiologists and drafted to CPR Part 35 . From early-stage screening through to single joint expert opinions and joint statements — structured around how solicitors actually run cases.
- CPR Part 35
- Bolam / Bolitho
- SJE under 35.7
- Joint statements 35.12
Twelve report types, grouped by purpose.
Most cardiology instructions fall into one of three groups: standard opinion reports that establish the medicine, specialist reports that address particular forensic questions, and procedural reports tied to specific stages of litigation.
Standard Opinion Reports
The core liability and causation work. Most clinical negligence and personal injury instructions start here.
-
Early-stage
Screening & Merits Reports
A short, focused view on whether a cardiology claim has prospects, before disclosure and trial costs build up. Often paired with a chronology where records are voluminous.
-
Liability
Breach of Duty Reports
Applies the Bolam test, as refined by Bolitho, to identify where cardiology care fell below the standard of a responsible body of practitioners. Referenced against current NICE and society guidance.
-
Causation
Causation Reports
Whether the alleged failing caused, or materially contributed to, the injury complained of — assessed on the balance of probabilities, with the counterfactual position spelled out.
-
Combined
Combined Breach & Causation
A single integrated opinion in cases where the two issues are tightly linked — for example, where the alleged failing is itself the mechanism of injury. Sections remain clearly delineated within the report.
Specialist Reports
Reports addressing particular forensic questions beyond breach and causation — prognosis, life expectancy, fatal cases and trial fitness.
-
Quantum
Condition & Prognosis
The claimant’s current cardiac status and what is likely to happen next. By convention this report does not address causation — that sits in a separate causation opinion where required.
-
Mortality
Life Expectancy Reports
Mortality modelling for dependency, fatal accident and high-value quantum work — using cohort data, condition-specific evidence and the claimant’s individual risk profile.
-
Coronial
Inquest & Fatal Cardiac
Coroner-facing reports on cause of death, the cardiac contribution and foreseeability — including Article 2 inquests and Prevention of Future Deaths considerations.
-
Procedural
Fitness for Trial
Whether a claimant or defendant is cardiac-fit to give evidence and participate in proceedings — addressing the physical and stress demands of the hearing environment.
Procedural & Joint Reports
Reports and statements tied to specific stages of litigation under CPR Part 35 — addenda, critiques, single joint instruction and post-meeting statements.
-
Follow-up
Addendum & Supplementary
Issued where new disclosure, further records, or Part 35 questions require an updated opinion. Drafted as a free-standing document that sits with the original report.
-
Rebuttal
Critique & Rebuttal
Independent review of the opposing party’s expert evidence — methodology, references, and the strength of the inferences drawn. Used in defendant work and to inform Part 35 questions.
-
CPR 35.7
Single Joint Expert
Joint instruction under CPR 35.7, with the report addressed to both parties. Common in lower-value claims and where the court directs that a single expert is proportionate.
-
CPR 35.12
Joint Statements
Statements of agreement and disagreement prepared following experts’ meetings under CPR 35.12. We prepare agendas where requested and attend by video or in person.
Other report types we routinely cover.
Beyond the twelve core report types, our consultants regularly prepare opinions on the issues below. These sit alongside the standard catalogue and are commissioned where the case turns on one of these particular questions.
Cardiac Risk Reports
Future risk / life expectancy inputWhere a claim turns on future susceptibility to myocardial infarction, stroke, sudden cardiac death or progressive heart failure, a cardiac risk report sets out the claimant’s individual risk against the relevant population baseline.
Typical contexts include workplace stress claims, post-traumatic and post-surgical risk, and pre-existing disease alongside an alleged delayed diagnosis. The report covers pre-incident baseline risk, the additional contribution attributable to the incident, and the practical implications for the claimant. These include monitoring requirements, treatment needs and effect on insurability where relevant.
Treatment-Costing Reports
Quantum input / future careFor claims involving future treatment, the report sets out the medical components likely to be required: device costs (pacemakers, ICDs, valve prostheses), procedural costs (PCI, ablation, surgical revision), follow-up imaging intervals, lifelong medication, and the typical timing of repeat or revision procedures.
The panel works alongside care experts, life-care planners and rehabilitation consultants. The clinical input feeds into the quantum schedule, which the panel does not itself produce. Where the claim involves NHS-funded and private treatment in parallel, the report identifies which pathway each component sits on.
Fitness for Work Reports
Employment / capacityEmployment tribunals, occupational claims and capacity assessments routinely require a view on whether the claimant can return to work, and in what capacity.
The report examines the cardiac diagnosis against the physical and cognitive demands of the role. Where driving is part of the work, it considers DVLA guidance
with separate analysis for Group 1 and Group 2 entitlements. It also identifies any reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.
Where the claim sits alongside a DWP, PIP or ill-health retirement assessment, the report is structured so its findings can be applied to that framework.
Records Review & Chronology
Early disclosure / paper reviewA standalone clinical chronology prepared from the disclosed records. Includes an annotated timeline, identification of significant clinical events, and a short summary of the cardiology issues raised by the records.
Useful where the records bundle is large, where the timeline is contested, or where early clinical interpretation is needed before a full liability or causation report is commissioned. Frequently paired with a screening opinion to keep early-case costs proportionate.
What happens after the report lands.
A report is rarely the end of an instruction. Most cases also involve case conferences, experts’ meetings under CPR 35.12, Part 35 questions and — in a minority of matters — oral evidence at trial.
The fees and turnaround page sets out what each of these stages costs and how long they take.
-
Case Conferences
Pre-trial conferences with counsel, by video or in person. Booked ahead and confirmed through the case manager.
-
Court Attendance
Oral evidence and cross-examination. Court-experienced members of chambers with notice as standard.
-
Turnaround & Fees
Standard 5–7 days, fast-track options, fixed fees, LAA rates and deferred payment terms.
Find the right opinion for your case.
The report type usually follows from the underlying cardiac issue and the subspecialty involved. Both pages below cross-reference back into the catalogue.
-
By cardiac condition
Browse case scenarios
Seventeen cardiac conditions in legal context — missed MI, aortic dissection, AF and anticoagulation failures, cardiac surgery negligence, sudden cardiac death and more.
-
By cardiac subspecialty
Meet our cardiologists
Interventional, electrophysiology, imaging, heart failure, valve and structural, general and acute, adult congenital and inherited cardiac conditions. Subspecialty matching from the first triage.
Tell us what the case turns on.
Quote on the same day. Most reports out within 5–7 working days. Urgent and fast-track instructions accepted where the trial window requires it.
Quote on the same day Fixed-fee available LAA & deferred payment