Mediation
Mediation for workplace and professional disputes in healthcare
A mediated agreement can settle a dispute between doctors, practice partners or a doctor and their employer. It can do so faster and more privately than a hearing, and it lets the people involved keep working together.
When mediation helps
Disputes we mediate
Healthcare disputes often involve people who have to keep working together. We mediate where a negotiated outcome serves both sides better than a hearing. That includes disputes between clinicians, between partners in a GP practice or a dental practice, and between doctors and their employers. A complaint from a colleague can also run through several processes at once, as our article on when the complainant is a colleague or employee explains.
Mediation is voluntary and confidential. Either side can leave at any time, and there is no agreement unless both sides sign it.
The process
How a mediation runs
Before the day
We speak to each side separately and agree who will attend. We also read the papers each side wants us to see.
On the day
We meet each side in private and bring them together when it helps. We test proposals, carry offers between the rooms and keep the discussion on what the parties can agree.
The outcome
If the parties reach agreement, we record the terms in writing for both sides to sign. If they do not, each side leaves with a clearer view of the other's position.
Neutrality and fees
How we take instructions
As mediator we act for neither side. We do not mediate a dispute in which we have advised or represented either party. Before we accept an instruction, we check for conflicts, as we do for every matter (see how we work). Once we have seen the issues, we quote a fixed fee, plus VAT. We agree it with the parties before the mediation, together with how they will share it.
If you are an employer who needs an independent investigator or chair rather than a mediator, see independent investigations and chairing.
The day itself
What a mediation day looks like
The day usually begins with a joint opening session. Each side has the chance to say, in its own words, what the dispute is about and what it hopes to achieve. Some parties prefer not to meet at the start, and we agree that in advance where it suits them better.
The parties then move to separate rooms for private sessions. We spend time with each side in turn, listening to its concerns and testing the strength of its position. Nothing you say in a private session passes to the other room unless you agree that it can. As proposals take shape, we move between the rooms with offers and responses. When a joint discussion will help, we bring the parties back together.
If the parties settle, we write the agreed terms down before anyone leaves. Both sides read and sign the written agreement, and it binds them once signed if they intend it to. If the day ends without a settlement, the parties remain free to keep talking, and we stay available to both sides if they wish.
The people in the room
Who attends
Each side should bring a person with authority to settle. In a dispute with an employer, that may be a manager or a member of the human resources team who can agree terms. In a practice dispute, it is usually the partners themselves. Where the person with authority cannot attend, they should be available by telephone throughout the day.
You may bring a legal adviser, a representative of your professional body or trade union, or a colleague for support. We agree the list of attendees with both sides beforehand, so that everyone knows in advance who will be present.
Confidentiality
What stays private
Everything said and written in a mediation is confidential. Before the day, both sides and the mediator sign a mediation agreement that records this. Discussions take place on a without prejudice basis. Subject to limited exceptions the law recognises, neither side can rely in later proceedings on anything the other side said or offered.
That protection lets you explore options openly without weakening your position if the dispute goes on. As mediator we do not report to an employer, a regulator or anyone else on what either side said. The mediation agreement sets out the narrow exceptions, such as where the law requires disclosure, and we explain them to both sides at the start.
Arrange a confidential conversation
Call 07356 071 193 or email hello@eloquia.co.uk. Your first conversation may be with our AI assistant, which tells you at the start that it is an AI assistant, not a person or a lawyer, and gives no legal advice. It takes your details and a short questionnaire for Saqib Khan, and where we can help we arrange an appointment with him at a time that suits you both. Our privacy notice explains how what you tell us is handled.