MPS members in Ireland will soon benefit from a more local service, with the announcement that the handling of cases and clinical negligence claims is to be based in-country and managed by a local team.
As a global organisation MPS is committed to getting as close to members as possible, providing a tailored service that supports them in dealing with issues of local relevance and urgency. With medicolegal and dentolegal services available in-country, it means our support for members will be geographically more accessible than ever before.
In 2019 alone, we opened more than 1,800 medical and dental cases in Ireland, which ranged from handling complaints, writing reports and general medico/dentolegal advice, to more complex issues such as claims of clinical negligence, regulatory matters, inquests and criminal investigations.
A further advantage for members is the extensive experience of the clinical negligence expert who will be managing these new services. Tom Hayes will be Head of Service Delivery for MPS in Ireland and has an extensive background in medical law and malpractice. Since 2007, Tom has been based in Dublin working for Matheson where he established their healthcare services, including clinical negligence. During his tenure with Matheson, he headed up the 140-strong litigation department and was the senior partner for MPS’s work. Prior to this, Tom practised clinical malpractice law in London where he was a partner at Capsticks.
Tom will join MPS on 2 March, with a plan to have the office fully operational in the next 12-18 months. The office is likely to be situated just outside central Dublin, but we do not have a location confirmed as yet.
Tom Hayes says: “Having worked alongside MPS legal teams in Ireland for many years, the opportunity to move across and join them at a time of exciting progress and evolution was too good to turn down. The quality of service from the UK office has never been in doubt, but by providing cases and claims handling support in-country we will be able to improve the experience for members even further.”
With Tom in post, MPS underlines its dedication to establishing a stronger presence in Ireland; a move that will not only enable us to better understand and address the concerns of members there, but which will also help provide us with increased clarity of the risks and trends faced by practitioners.
Melanie Rowles, Director of Delivery Services at MPS, adds: “Getting closer to members wherever they are in the world is a key part of the MPS strategy, which is designed to ensure we are best placed to meet the increasingly diverse range of issues faced by doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals. I was thrilled to appoint someone of the calibre of Tom, and members in Ireland are going to benefit enormously from the many years of experience he has gained in the healthcare legal field.”