Independent medical examinations —
upper limb

What is provided

• Permanent impairment assessment

  Assessment of permanent impairment of the upper limb — shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand — for statutory and common-law claims. Dr Hirpara completed the Upper Extremity training in Queensland's Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (the Queensland Guide) on 11 June 2025 and is listed as a trained assessor for the upper limb on the register maintained by the Workers' Compensation Regulator. Assessments follow the Queensland Guide current at the time of assessment, which differs in several respects from the AMA Guides 5th edition; where your instructions specify a different framework, please say so at the outset. Where the instruction also asks about the claimant's current condition and likely prognosis, that is addressed as part of the same examination.

• Records-based review — breach of duty and causation

  Review of the clinical records and imaging, without an examination, to answer the questions put in the letter of instruction. In clinical negligence matters this covers breach of duty — whether the upper-limb care provided met the standard reasonably expected — and causation, being what followed from any departure. Dr Hirpara undertakes this work regularly on instruction through medico-legal agencies as well as directly. Because no examination is involved, these matters are accepted from anywhere in Australia.

• Liability, causation and treatment opinions

  Independent opinion on whether a described mechanism accounts for the diagnosed injury, on the reasonableness and necessity of treatment provided to date, and on likely future treatment requirements. Prepared from the material supplied, the examination findings, and the imaging.

Assessment is confined to the upper limb. Requests involving other body regions are best directed to an assessor who covers those areas, or divided between assessors.

Instructions accepted from

Instructions are accepted from each of the following. Where a particular scheme or insurer requires its own panel or procurement arrangement, that is a matter between the instructing party and the practice — please raise it at the outset so the right route can be confirmed.

• WorkCover Queensland and self-insurers

  Statutory workers' compensation claims, and claims administered by licensed self-insured employers. Training under the Queensland Guide is what makes a specialist eligible to assess permanent impairment for the scheme; WorkCover itself arranges most impairment assessments through its own contracted panel, so direct instructions are most straightforward from self-insurers, or where WorkCover engages the practice directly.

• CTP (motor-vehicle) insurers

  Compulsory third party claims arising from road crashes, including upper-limb injuries sustained as a driver, passenger, rider or pedestrian.

• Medico-legal agencies and panels

  Panel instructions through medico-legal providers who brief experts on behalf of their own clients. Dr Hirpara accepts these regularly, most often for records-based review where no examination is required.

• Solicitors — acting for either party

  Instructions are accepted from plaintiff and defendant firms alike. The opinion provided does not change with the instructing party; that is the point of an independent examination.

Questions from instructing parties

• What are Dr Hirpara's impairment-assessment qualifications?

  Dr Hirpara is a trained assessor for the upper limb under Queensland's Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment — the Queensland Guide, currently in its 2nd edition. The training is delivered by Workers' Compensation Regulatory Services within the Office of Industrial Relations and comprises the core module introducing the Queensland Guide plus the Upper Extremity specialty module, each with mandatory case-study competency assessments; he completed it on 11 June 2025. The Regulator publishes a register of trained assessors, on which he is listed for the upper limb, so the credential can be verified independently. A copy of the training certificate is also available to instructing parties on request. The training covers the upper limb only, which is why assessment is confined to that region.

• Do you provide breach of duty and causation opinions in clinical negligence matters?

  Yes, within the upper limb. Instructions are accepted from either party, and the opinion addresses the questions put in the letter of instruction — whether the care provided met the standard reasonably expected, and where relevant what followed from any departure. These matters are reviewed from the records and imaging without an examination, which is why they are accepted from anywhere in Australia. As with every other instruction, any prior involvement with the patient or with the treating clinicians is disclosed before the matter is accepted.

• What upper-limb injuries can Dr Hirpara assess?

  The full range of shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand pathology — rotator cuff and shoulder injuries, elbow tendon and nerve conditions, wrist fractures and ligament injuries, hand tendon, nerve and joint injuries, and the arthritis that follows old trauma. Assessment is confined to the upper limb; requests involving other body regions are best directed to an assessor who covers those areas, or divided between assessors.

• Will Dr Hirpara assess his own patients?

  No. Independent assessment of a patient he has treated would compromise the independence of the opinion, so those requests are declined and the instructing party is advised to engage another assessor. Where a claimant has been treated at the practice, please note this when instructing so it can be identified before an appointment is offered.

• Are reports prepared to the expert code of conduct, and will Dr Hirpara attend court?

  Reports are prepared to meet the expert's duty to the court and the applicable code of conduct — the opinion addresses the questions asked and does not change with the instructing party. Attendance at court or tribunal to give oral evidence is not part of the service currently offered, so if a matter is likely to require it, please raise that before instructing so you can brief an expert who can see it through.

• What should be included with the instruction?

  The letter of instruction setting out the questions to be answered, the claimant's contact details, all relevant clinical records including operation reports, the imaging and imaging reports (or access to them), the incident description or statement, and any earlier medico-legal reports. A complete brief materially improves the report; missing imaging is the most common cause of delay.

• Does he accept instructions from both plaintiff and defendant solicitors?

  Yes. Instructions are accepted from either side, and the assessment and opinion are conducted the same way regardless of who instructs. Any prior involvement with the claimant is disclosed before an appointment is offered.

• Where are examinations conducted, and do you take instructions from outside Central Queensland?

  Yes — instructions are accepted from anywhere in Australia. Records-based matters, including standard-of-care and causation opinions, require no examination at all and are handled entirely from the material supplied; a substantial part of this work already comes from outside the region. Where a matter falls between the two, telehealth and correspondence are available. Only permanent impairment assessment requires an in-person examination, and those are conducted in Rockhampton — claimants travelling in from across Central Queensland is routine for the practice, and the catchment pages set out drive times from the main regional centres.