Working as a specialist consultant

Expert consultants must be specialists within the relevant medical discipline.

Every year, NPE considers more than 6,000 cases. To assess this caseload, NPE employs the services of in-house and external experts with relevant experience and specialist competence. Most cases need to be considered by specialist doctors, but other medical personnel are also consulted when their expertise is relevant, such as dentists, nurses, physiotherapists and opticians.

The work of an expert consultant involves the consideration of medical issues relating to individual cases in which the patient has claimed compensation for an injury incurred while receiving treatment. The objective is to ascertain whether there were failings in the diagnosis/treatment provided or if the treatment provided is considered good medical practice. The expert opinion forms an important part of NPE's grounds for reaching its decision on whether compensation is warranted. The work involves no apportioning of blame in case of failings, nor does it involve assessing whether compensation should be paid.

In-house experts

NPE's medical staff includes close to 80 contracted-in consultants who represent a total of 30 specialist disciplines. These experts form part of a multi-disciplinary team that works with NPE's claims officers to investigate the cases. The majority of our contracted-in experts work under framework agreements for the delivery of different volumes of specialist services on a monthly basis. Because NPE is a major buyer of specialist services and a government agency, we are subject to public procurement regulations. Tenders are invited for the provision of specialist services under our framework agreements.

Competitive tenders for specialist services are normally advertised every autumn, depending on the need and case volume. Advertisements are found here on NPE's website, in relevant specialist publications and on the public procurement database www.doffin.no.

External experts

NPE's records list more than 600 external experts registered within approx. 50 specialist categories (medical specialties, dentistry and other healthcare categories). These are specialists who are approached on a case-by-case basis before we formally request their expert opinion. This makes it possible for the experts to adjust their own workload. Work is paid by the hour according to the current official fee rate for expert witnesses to the court.

Every year, NPE organises a full-day course for external experts. The course has been approved by the Norwegian Medical Association as a seven-hour optional course in all specialist disciplines. External experts who are listed in our register of experts receive an invitation to attend the course.

We need more external experts within a number of specialist categories.

Contact

If you have any questions about working as an expert for NPE, send us an e-mail at ssu@npe.no.