Case Study - Mediation Helps Parties Discover What Matters Most By Jane Gunn

CASE STUDY - MEDIATION HELPS PARTIES DISCOVER WHAT MATTERS MOST

By Jane Gunn, In Place of Strife

The key to resolving any conflict or dispute is to discover what matters most to the people involved. Mediation can help parties to move away from defending positions to uncover their real concerns and motives and find out what each person really needs to find a solution.

Mary Odds was full of grief, following the death of her son Danny (a known drug user). She was also very angry and decided to sue Hopevale Hospital for an alleged error in diagnosis. She consulted a lawyer who advised her that she had a strong case. She also spoke with a national newspaper and with a local radio station to discuss publishing the story and naming and shaming the hospital. The lawyers commenced legal proceedings and the expensive job of preparing the case for trial began. After a while however, it was suggested that the parties might be prepared to work with a mediator to see if a settlement could be reached outside court.

Mrs Odds’ position was that the hospital had been negligent, they had misdiagnosed Danny’s illness and, as a result, he had died. She was claiming a substantial sum of money in compensation and her lawyer had advised her that she had a very good chance of winning in court. Hopevale’s position was that the doctor had made the correct diagnosis at the time and that any other doctor would have made the same decision. Their lawyer also advised that they had a very good chance of winning in court.

By relying only on their positions and the possibility of ‘winning’, it was impossible for Mrs Odds and Hopevale to move any closer to resolving their dispute.

What came out in the mediation, however, was that, apart from the misdiagnosis, which was not clear-cut, there were several factors in Danny’s treatment that added to Mrs Odd’s sense of anger. In particular, she felt that the doctors and nurses looking after Danny were nervous about treating a known drug user. She felt very strongly that they needed to know how exactly to treat a similar patient in the future. What had really broken down was the relationship with the patient and his family because of fear and lack of knowledge and experience.

The outcome to this case was that both the hospital and Mrs Odds needed more than to agree over a sum of money to be paid. What was more important was to make sure that, if such a situation should happen in the future, the hospital would be prepared to deal with it; that the staff would have the skills to manage the patient and any relatives.

Mrs Odds found a far more creative solution that met both her own need to do something in memory of her son and the hospital’s need to learn from past mistakes. She offered her services to the hospital to become their first Champion for Drug Users, a role that involved her in teaching the medical staff of the particular problems and requirements of a drug user entering hospital for treatment.

Based on a true case but names are fictitious. Jane Gunn is a mediator with In Place of Strife. She is FCIArb, CEDR accredited, CMC Registered and IMI Certified Mediator and is also an International Speaker and Author of a popular book on conflict management “How To Beat Bedlam In The Boardroom And Boredom In The Bedroom". In Place of Strife is the Chambers for many of the UK’s most experienced mediators. To find out more please visit our website, www.mediate.co.uk or call our office on 0333 014 4575.