26 Feb 2020
“No two days on the Expert Panel are ever the same” Alistair Tindall, Orthopaedic Surgeon
Mr Alistair Tindall is one of our valued Orthopaedic Surgeons who brings over 20 years’ experience to our Expert Panel. Today we’re delving deeper into his early career, his personal life and how working on our Expert Panel has enabled him to work flexibly, gain valuable knowledge in Clinical Negligence and support in the delivery of private services.
How long have you been an Orthopaedic Surgeon?
I have been working in Orthopaedics for just over 20 years and still prefer to maintain a full trauma practice as well as elective work, as it would be far too repetitive to simply replace the same joint day after day. Medicine is all about stories, and the story of arthritis is always different for every patient, but the stories of trauma patients are usually so much more interesting and varied.
Can you tell us a little about your career journey?
Even as a child, I always enjoyed fixing broken things. Now, instead of broken objects, I fix bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles.
In other medical professions, practitioners often have to deal with patients who have ‘phantom’ symptoms or illnesses. I’ve found that in orthopaedics, there is no doubt that the patient is suffering which really appeals to me as I know I am helping someone to recover from an illness or injury.
More importantly, as no two patients or injuries are the same, there are very few guidelines in how to treat a person in orthopaedics. Unlike other areas of medicine, whether you nail, plate or cast a tibia depends on the person’s occupation, hobbies and thoughts more than it does on arbitrary guidelines that will change in the next iteration.
What is a typical day on the Expert Panel like for you?
No two days on the panel are ever the same, but most of my day is spent trying to keep on top of various requests for appointments. As I have a young family, I find it really convenient to be able to work flexibly and manage most of the medico-legal work remotely. I enjoy being able to work anytime and anywhere - I can even work around school plays and children’s parties.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job, and why?
Medico-legal work is another opportunity to work with more patients and share their stories and experiences. There are always administrative headaches in any job, but running the practice via the Expert Panel helps to minimise these.
How does working on the Speed Medical Expert Panel benefit you and your career?
One of the most rewarding aspects of the role is the opportunity to work on Clinical Negligence cases. I find it advantageous to learn from other people’s mistakes and see where issues could have been prevented. It also encourages me to keep up to date with current guidelines and protocols while providing me with more authority when discussing practice improvement ideas in my NHS department.
We hope you enjoyed reading about Mr Tindall’s experience on our Expert Panel and how it has benefitted not only his career but his personal life too. If you’re a medical professional looking for new opportunities, we’d love to hear from you. To find out more about joining our Expert Panel, please contact our Expert Liaison team on expertliaisonteam@speedmedical.com.
