22.12A particular feature of serious medical treatment cases is that P will almost invariably be joined as a party, and the Official Solicitor will almost invariably be invited to and will accept the invitation to act as P’s litigation friend (see further para 22.18 below). The Official Solicitor will also almost invariably act both as litigation friend and solicitor for P – in other words, external solicitors will not be instructed and the Official Solicitor’s own lawyers will handle the case from start to finish, instructing counsel if needs be. This means that, wherever possible, it is sensible to ensure that contact is made with the Official Solicitor’s office before an application is issued (the contact details are in appendix G below), both to discuss the case in outline and to ensure that the Official Solicitor is in a position to respond quickly when the application is issued. The pressure of work upon the Official Solicitor, however, is such that the authors’ experience is that the Official Solicitor is increasingly reluctant to become formally involved before an application is lodged unless there is clear provision for his legal costs (see further para 22.18 below).