Medical Mediation
Building better dialogue between families and medical professionals.
Some of the most stressful times of people’s lives are spent dealing with their own and their loved ones’ medical emergencies or episodes of ill health. Whether receiving bad news, spending prolonged periods in hospital, or having to make critical choices about care or withdrawal of care, people’s fear and upset can make it extremely difficult for them to know that they are making the right decisions about what is best for themselves or for a family member.
There is also a clear risk at such difficult times that families and health professionals can come into conflict over crucial care decisions, and prolonged disputes can quickly develop. This is to the detriment of everyone involved, including, most notably, the individual receiving care.
Medical mediation is becoming increasingly recognised as a quick and highly-effective way to build dialogue between people, to head off disputes, to restore trust, and to provide the conditions for people to make some of the most difficult decisions they may ever need to make.
UK Mediation offers an unrivalled medical mediation process, using some of the most accomplished and experienced mediators in the field, and with a simple process expertly co-ordinated by our dedicated case managers. We can provide a mediator within five days of receiving your referral, and a mediation summary within 48 hours of the mediation day.
Find out why we are regarded at the UK’s leading medical mediators by getting in touch with our experts today.
Call 0800 772 0778
to speak to one of our experts and find out more about the best mediation process for you.
Send us a message
For all the different ways to contact UK Mediation or to arrange a free consultation click here.
Request a call back
If you’d like us to give you a call to discuss medical mediation in more detail click here to request a call back.
How does medical mediation work?
Referring a case
After getting in touch with UK Mediation, one of our case managers will send you a Medical Mediation Referral Form. This needs to be filled out with details of the dispute and of the participants, and returned to us. A date can then be arranged (usually one day is enough) and a signed Booking Form will confirm the mediation case.
Prior to the mediation
Before the day of the mediation, your case manager will liaise with you to organise the logistics of the mediation. This will include timings, contact information, venue arrangements for face-to-face cases or, if it’s online, all of the links and information to join the sessions.
Individual meetings
On the day of the mediation, the mediator will meet with each party in private individual sessions. These meetings usually last for about 1½ hours each. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss the ongoing issues, as well as what is required – from their point of view – to end the dispute.
After the individual meetings
If the parties want to proceed, the mediator will invite them into a joint session in the afternoon. If the mediator decides that it would not be productive to have them in the same room, then he or she may instead “shuttle” between them. It is for this reason why we ask you to arrange two rooms for a face-to-face mediation.
The joint meeting
Getting parties together in the same meeting allows for a comprehensive airing of views and offers a chance to speak directly to one another. The aim of the joint session is to discuss how they believe they have arrived at the current situation, and to try and agree on how to improve their relationship. The meeting usually lasts for half a day.
The mediation agreement
The agreement is a joint plan of action decided upon by the participants, with no input from the mediator. When an agreement is reached during the joint session, the mediator can offer to draft this in a written or typed form and give it to the parties. The agreement is formed in good faith and is not legally binding.
Feeding back to the referrer
The next working day, UK Mediation will provide you with a Mediation Summary. And, while the participants may not want to share all of the details, we will always let you know whether the mediation went ahead and whether it was successful. If parties consent to sharing, you will also see the agreement points that the parties came up with.
“Thanks - it was organised and facilitated really well.”Rachel Naunton, Physiotherapistread more testimonials
Great Ormond Street Hospital
