Medical Appeal Tribunal: Member: Appointment of

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A decision made 18 May 2012:

Decision Reference: MD-S-2012-0037
Decision Summary Title :	Appointment to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal		Date of Decision Summary:	15 May 2012
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Governance		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	Appointment to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal		Date of Written Report:	14 May 2012
Written Report Author:	Head of Governance		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal – Appointment of New Member
Decision(s): The Minister decided to approve the appointment of one new member to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal as provided for under the provisions of Article 34 of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974
Reason(s) for Decision: Under Article 34 of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974, the Minister is required to appoint a medical appeal tribunal, consisting of three medical practitioners, to hear appeals on claim awards for the Long Term Incapacity Allowance. Currently only three practitioners are available. Open recruitment was undertaken in respect of this appointment, overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission. The Minister is satisfied that Dr Michael Richardson has the necessary qualifications, knowledge and experience to be appointed to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal with immediate effect.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications regarding the appointment of the Tribunal Member.
Action required: Notification of new member to be given to the Registrar of Appeals
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Medical Appeal Tribunal: Member: Appointment of

Appointment to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal

Background

Under Article 34 of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974, the Minister is required to appoint a medical appeal tribunal, consisting of three medical practitioners, to hear appeals on claim awards for the Long Term Incapacity Allowance, where either the claimant or the Minister wishes the outcome reviewed.

A medical practitioner may not be involved with an appeal if he has had prior involvement with a claim or has treated the claimant. Currently there are only three practitioners available so a wider pool is required to ensure more timely hearings. Other doctors were previously appointed but undertake boards for the department and so are usually conflicted.

Following a period of open recruitment and structured interviews which involved a representative of the Jersey Appointments Commission, who also sat on the recruitment panel, the appointment of Dr Michael Richardson [1], to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal is proposed.

Long Term Incapacity Allowance (LTIA)

The award of LTIA is based on the loss of faulty experienced by the individual when compared to a person of the same age and sex. Because of the subjective nature of the medical assessment, a medical practitioner is required to determine the resulting loss of faculty and the period of the award.

Dr Michael Richardson

Dr Michael Richardson trained in Edinburgh and graduated in 1982. After completing training in various parts of England, he was appointed a consultant in the North-East of England in 1991, moving to Jersey to take up his current position in 1993. His special areas of interest are General Internal Medicine, Care of the Elderly, Rehabilitation, Rheumatology and Osteoporosis. He is currently Clinical Director of Medicine for the General Hospital and a Royal College Tutor. He supports The Parkinson's Disease Society and is the President of the Jersey Branch.

Remuneration

The remuneration rates for the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Income Support Medical Appeal and the Social Security Tribunals is recommended by the Bailiff. The daily rate is currently £440: usually hearings are paid for pro rata in half days.

This daily rate is significantly less than either a lawyer or medical practitioner would expect to generate from their normal employment, therefore it does not seem reasonable to differentiate between the professions. Therefore the Social Security Medical Appeal practitioners are remunerated at the same daily rate of £440.

Timing of appeals

Article 34B of the Social Security Law states an appeal on the award of Long Term Incapacity Allowance cannot be made unless a period of two years has elapsed. The delay in allowing a claim to go forward to an appeal is historic and was intended to reduce the number of frivolous appeals, or appeals from claimants whose condition was not stable. However, such a lengthy delay is in contravention of Human Rights legislation. The Social Security Minister has previously agreed that appeals should be allowed to go forward at any time.

The department operates a policy of redetermination of cases where a claimant disagrees with a decision, therefore before making an appeal, a claimant will have attended two medical boards (in almost all cases).

Number of Appeals

The Tribunals are usually held in half day sessions. There were 5 Social Security Medical Appeals heard in 2011. So far, 1 has been held in 2012 and there are 4 more pending.

Recommendations

The Minister is asked to agree:

To appoint Dr Michael Richardson as a member of the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal

[1] Dr Richardson is also proposed for the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal: appointments are made by the States of Jersey.