Call for register of expert medical witnesses.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

A central NHS register of expert witnesses should be created to help prevent miscarriages of justice, the government's chief medical officer said today.

Sir Liam Donaldson said the register would help restore confidence among the public and within the medical profession.

His comments followed a series of high-profile cases in which evidence given by expert medical witnesses helped to secure convictions that were later ruled unsafe.

Medical experts are currently recruited through private agreements between individual solicitors and doctors.

However, Mr Donaldson - speaking ahead of the publication of a …