The tribunal doctor

Most people do not understand how important tribunals are to our civil liberties. In my role within the Social Entitlement Chamber in the First-tier Tribunal of the Tribunals Service I have the opportunity to help some of the most vulnerable people in society. They have all been turned down for benefits they were previously receiving for medical reasons, and they have come to appeal.

They range from very socially deprived people and youngsters with drug addiction problems to people nearing retirement who no longer feel able to work.

I started in the Tribunals Service 12 years ago when I gave up full time practice to look after my young family. I had no idea then how somebody’s sick note or the forms that general practitioners were asked to fill out by what is now the Department for Work and Pensions filtered through the benefits system. It has been interesting to gain that insight.

I get all the case notes before hearings so I can look into the issues. I focus on the technical medical side of the cases, advising on conditions and their effect on the person’s ability to work or to perform certain actions.

During the tribunal hearing I take a major part in interviewing the individual to get evidence relevant to the legislation, alongside a lawyer and sometimes a disability specialist. This is different from making a medical diagnosis. You are not considering symptoms to decide whether someone has diabetes; rather you are deciding how someone who says they have diabetes is affected in terms of their ability to work or look after themselves. Doctors also tend to believe people, and you have to learn different techniques to check the truth of what you are being told.

I sit in the chamber one day a week on average and combine this with part time general practice and some out of hours work; I’m also a GP appraiser. Tribunal work fits well into a flexible portfolio or part time career.

Many doctors—GPs and hospital consultants—­take up this work on retiring. You can work until you are 70. Flexibility was one of the main attractions: if you want to have a month off you can.

This role is “fee paid, medically qualified member of the Social Entitlement Chamber,” and the Judicial Appointments Commission is advertising for about 150 new medical members from 23 March.

The other part of my role entails appraising the fee paid, medically qualified members of the chamber. I watch them in action in the tribunal, meet them for a discussion, and then write up a report. Each medical member is appraised every three years, and this aspect of my role is in line with the additional duties of seven new salaried, medically qualified positions in the chamber, which the commission is also advertising from 23 March. These salaried members will work full time—or part time at 80% of the available full time hours—and will also be involved in training the fee paid medical members.

If you are thinking of applying, my top tips are to talk to somebody who is already doing the job, don’t be put off by the application form, and observe hearings in the chamber. The Tribunals Service can advise you on visiting a chamber—contact the relevant regional office at http://appeals-service.gov.uk/GenericPages/contactus.htm.

I thoroughly recommend being a medical appraiser. It is something quite different from the doctor’s normal work and is important. Sometimes you would like to award benefits to everybody you see. You often feel sorry for people and have to make some hard decisions. But you also feel you are doing a good job for people who, if they had not seen you, could have been denied rightful benefits.