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Why is it that the addition of 'claimant' in front of 'solicitors' immediately means that I know the following text will be comprised of a criticism, or an attack on what the solicitor is doing? Even as a solicitor - and a claimant one at that - I can conjure up visions of the 'fat cat' claimant solicitor barking orders at a phalanx of assistants and sipping a cappucino at his or her enormous desk in a corner office of a glass tower, while simultaneously seeing in my mind's eye a Bob Cratchitt-like figure in muffler and fingerless gloves, nervously eyeing the coal-shuttle while trying desperately to shave off a few bob from his greedy opponent's extortionate bill - and that is purely and entirely due to the skewing of the public's perception by the media, egged on by insurers and the government. I know it's not true, and yet I see it that way before I wipe the film of distortion from my eyes.

Why don't we have a media presence to redress the balance? We pay for a practising certificate, money is coming into our profession; before we do not have a profession, couldn't we do something to equalise arms? Simply running campaigns that are only heard of within the profession - and at that, only vaguely - and sending out leaflets and posters that are displayed in windows that nobody will ever look at because they avoid us like the plague, our representative body needs to do something drastic. We don't need somebody being nice and diplomatic, it's gone beyond that. We need a media bulldog who will go in to fight for us.

People who are injured by medical mistakes are very vulnerable and also very conflicted, in my experience. Had they been offered even an apology without admission of any fault, a lot of them would be happy with that. But sadly, they are generally dismissed out of hand and made to feel disloyal and treasonous for even questioning the care they had. By and large, the people I've seen feel tremendously guilty as they know the NHS is an institution in crisis, but that's not going to pay their bills if they can't work due to an injury received. Early admission, a little compassion, would go a long way.

Or am I wrong?