Appointment of a medical practitioner to the Medical Appeal Tribunal under the provisions of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974.

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A decision made (22/09/2008) regarding: Appointment of a medical practitioner to the Medical Appeal Tribunal under the provisions of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974.

Decision Reference: MD–S-2008-0057
Decision Summary Title :	Appointment of a medical practitioner to the Medical Appeal Tribunal under the provisions of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974		Date of Decision Summary:	16 September 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Janice Waddell Compliance & Governance Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	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:	16 September 2008
Written Report Author:	Janice Waddell Compliance & Governance Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Janice Waddell Compliance & Governance Director
Subject: Appointment of a Doctor to the Medical Appeal Tribunal under the Provisions of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974
Decision(s): The Minister agreed to appoint Dr Brendan Loane as a member of the Medical Appeal Tribunal for the purposes of Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974 with effect from 16 September 2008.
Reason(s) for Decision: Under the provisions of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974 where a claimant to Long Term Incapacity Allowance is dissatisfied with the decision of the medical board on their claim they can appeal to the Medical Appeal Tribunal. This requirement is set out at Article 34 (1) (b) of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974. The Tribunal consists of three medical practitioners appointed by the Minister for Social Security. Two medical practitioners have recently retired leaving vacancies. The Appointments Commission approved the Appointment of Dr Loane.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications
Action required: The Chief Officer to formally notify the nominated medical practitioner.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Appointment of a medical practitioner to the Medical Appeal Tribunal under the provisions of the Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974.

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. With the recent retirement of two long-standing practitioners, the Registrar of Appeals is struggling to recruit three practitioners for pending appeals.

This report proposes the appointment of a local GP, Dr Brendan Loane, (who has already been appointed to the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal) to the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal.

Dr Brendan Loane

Dr Loane has been a General Practitioner at the Laurels Medical Practice since 2002 and is used to regularly assessing patients for fitness to work as well as providing information to aid Medical Board Doctors.

Dr Loane has completed the Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Diploma in Occupational Medicine which augments his work as an Occupational Physician for several local companies; supporting employers in assisting disabled employees in a work environment.

In 2007, Dr Loane was recruited to sit on the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal. This recruitment process was overseen by the Appointments Commission. Dr Loane was one of only two candidates at the time and the other candidate already sits on the Social Security Appeal Tribunal. As this was a recent recruitment process, the Appointments Commission representative involved in recruitment to Tribunal Panels agreed that the Department should approach Dr Loane was approached to consider sitting on the Social Security Medical Tribunal as well. Dr Loane has agreed to his name going forward.

Dr Loane also undertook training provided through the department for Medical Board Doctors for Income Support and therefore is already familiar with the different systems in operation and the Tribunal process.

Number of Appeals

As indicated, there has not been a significant increase in the number of appeals on the award of LTIA: panel members would be expected to attend 3 to 5 Tribunals each year. The Tribunals are usually held in half day sessions. There are currently 2 appeals pending.

Recommendations

The Minister is asked to agree:

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