Crofton Medical Reports Ltd (CMR) is a family-run business incorporated on 4th March 1997 taking over the medico-legal practice element from Robins Business Services – the sole trader secretarial enterprise of Sheila Robins since the early 1970's.

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The Company was a pioneer in the management of medico-legal evidence in litigation.  Having lived through many technological changes, from the electric typewriter and Gestetner copying machines, to fax, photocopiers and early computers with private networks, on through the transformative revelation of the internet and now the digital age, by continually reviewing our office technology, we continue to ensure the efficient handling of each and every case.

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Soon after incorporation we commissioned expert programmers to provide us with a bespoke management system. They listened intently and following much questioning and discussion, understood our groundbreaking brief and the technological tools we were envisaging.  This led to the development of a database system which incorporated all of our live medico-legal cases, providing the status and progress of each case.  This pivotal piece of technology remains the backbone of day-to-day operations and effective case management.

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Our original workload in the 1990's was mainly orthopaedic with the management of a single orthopaedic surgeon’s practice in South East London and Harley Street.  ​When this Orthopaedic Surgeon retired from the NHS he was so overwhelmed with work that Sheila, with the agreement of the Orthopaedic Surgeon and the instructing Solicitors, offered the overflow of instructions to other Orthopaedic Consultants whose practice CMR would manage in the same way.

 

At the beginning of 2000 we were approached by a Neuropsychiatrist who was retiring from the NHS and wished to have his medico-legal practice expertly managed full-time.  This was a new discipline for CMR but we found the same practices and protocols were appropriate.  We later added other Psychiatrists to our list of experts.

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In 2000 we achieved an Investors in People Award.  We were able to offer work placements to Secondary School pupils and a yearlong placement for a University undergraduate.  Our training programmes proved very successful.

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With the advent of the Woolf Reforms (Civil Procedure Rules) in 1997 and the Jackson Reforms in 2017 we attended briefings with Barristers, and training with Solicitors as well as ensuring our annual delegation to the Bond Solon Conference for Expert Witnesses.  Our practices and protocols have always been subject to regular review and these two landmark pieces of legislation led to ensuring compliance.  Our instructor base increased along with the number of Expert Witnesses with whom we worked. 

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At her attendance at The Bond Solon Conference in November 2017, Sheila was invited to address to the experts, about the importance of effective management of their practices. ​

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Sheila, now retired, has handed over the management of CMR to her son and grandson. They are committed to upholding the high standards of service established by Sheila and are dedicated to continuing this legacy for future generations.

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