52 results
24 Apr 2019 15:07
Stillbirths, Coronial Inquests and a New Approach to InvestigationsOn 28 November 2017, the Health Secretary, made a statement on the Government’s new strategy to improve safety in NHS maternity services. This included that from April 2018, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) would investigate every case of a stillbirth, neonatal death, suspected more...
1 Apr 2019 11:37
Consultation starts as to whether to alter the law to allow inquests into stillbirthsThere has recently been welcome news with the Health Secretary starting a consultation on whether to conduct inquests into stillbirths, the aim being to reduce baby deaths. UK stillbirth rates remain high compared with many similar European countries with the NHS reporting that stillbirth occurs in more...
8 Feb 2019 15:13
Human Rights or Health? How paid healthcare could be illegalPaid for medicine is a global business that impacts individuals worldwide. This is to the point that most are faced with a threatening ultimatum that either they fork out the expenses associated to healthcare or they risk worsening their condition by not purchasing any healthcare at all. Therefore, more...
7 Feb 2019 13:18
Kark Review into NHS 'fit and proper person test' publishedThe Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, yesterday formally announced the publication of Tom Kark QC’s review of the ‘fit and proper person test’ for NHS board members. In response, Tom stated that: “I was asked to conduct a review into the ‘Fit and Proper Person test’ for more...
6 Feb 2019 13:01
The Duty of Candour shows its teethFrom the jaws of the Care Quality Commission this month comes the first ever fine issued for breach of the Duty of Candour.[footnote 1] Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been given a fixed penalty notice for £1,250 for failing to apologise to a bereaved family within a more...
5 Feb 2019 10:27
What price freedom? Counting the cost when DoLS goes wrong.Esegbona v Kings College Hospital [2019] EWHC 77 (QB) Twenty years on from Bournewood, the case that prompted the introduction of DoLS, and as the Mental Capacity Amendment Bill tolls the death knell for DoLS and introduces as their replacement Liberty Protection Safeguards, the High Court (HHJ Coe more...
4 Feb 2019 15:12
New Law Pod UK Episode: Informed ConsentFollowing our popular interview with James Badenoch QC on the “doctor knows best” rule of evidence in medical negligence cases, we bring you John Whitting QC, healthcare law specialist at 1 Crown Office Row (@JohnWhittingQC). John talks to Rosalind English about the realities of clinical encounters more...
Dying with dignity
The Royal College of Physicians has been dragged into a vocal and undignified spat with its members over assisted dying, with some opposed, some supportive, and the rest uncommitted. It’s like Brexit all over again, with a consensus as far away as ever. It is quite extraordinary that the law more...
31 Jan 2019 16:34
Advice on medication, Montgomery and causation: Hazel Kennedy v Dr Jonathan Frankel [2019] EWHC (QB)Jonathan Holl-Allen QC acted for the successful Claimant in this claim against a Consultant Neurologist who Yip J concluded had failed to discharge his duty when advising in respect of medication to a suspected Parkinson’s Disease patient. The case is (to my knowledge) the first reported clinical more...
30 Jan 2019 16:51
Assessing lay evidence: lessons learnt from Owens -v-South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation TrustAngus Moon QC successfully defended this psychiatric negligence claim (unreported, County Court at Sheffield, 9 January 2019). The Claimant – a Consultant Radiologist – jumped from a balcony in an apparent suicide attempt and sustained serious injuries. He is now confined to a wheelchair. He alleged more...
18 Jan 2019 15:02
NHS wins £1billion Hepatitis drug challengeABBVIE LIMITED -v- THE NHS COMMISSIONING BOARD (OPERATING AS NHS ENGLAND) [2019] EWHC 61 (TCC) Pharma giant AbbVie challenged the largest NHS drug procurement ever undertaken, for contracts to treat and eliminate Hepatitis C (“HCV”) worth about £1 billion over five years commencing April 2019. The more...
8 Jan 2019 09:30
Doctor knows best: Expert evidence in medical cases“No negligence where the doctors disagree” – used to be the approach of the courts to expert evidence in medical cases. That deference has eroded in recent years. Rosalind English talks to James Badenoch QC, who acted for the claimant Montgomery in the the most recent Supreme Court case on informed more...
20 Dec 2018 15:48
Damages for the costs of commercial surrogacy: public policy is not rigidThe Court of Appeal in XX v Whittington Hospital NHS Trust [2018] EWCA Civ 2832 has overturned the High Court’s decision ([2017] EWHC 2318 (QB)) by awarding damages to an infertile claimant for the costs of commercial surrogacy in California. The first instance decision In a previous blog post from more...
17 Dec 2018 13:04
Brexit weekly round up – Week commencing 10 December 2018Matrix’s Legal Support Service provides a weekly round-up of Brexit-related links and news. Brexit and the UK constitution The CJEU has handed down judgment in the case of Wightman & Ors v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU (C-621-18), holding that the UK can unilaterally revoke the more...
13 Dec 2018 09:46
Charles Crow reviews the benefits and perils of Permanent Health Schemes in employment contractsIn the recent case of Awan v. ICTS UK Ltd [2018] 11WLUK 385 (Simler J, President) the EAT confirmed and strengthened previous decisions (Aspden v. Webbs Poultry [1996] IRLR 251, Briscoe v. Lubrizol Ltd [2002] IRLR 607, amongst others) to the effect that a term will be implied into contracts of more...
12 Dec 2018 10:09
High Court order Camden to provide a 7 year old boy with special educational needs with the programme specified in his EHC planR (S) v Camden [2018] EWHC 3354 (Admin) Related Practice Area(s): Education Law, Public Law, Healthcare, Mental Health and Mental Capacity, Community Care Law Court:Queen’s Bench Division (Administrative Court) The High Court has ordered the London Borough of Camden to provide a 7 year old boy, S, more...
10 Dec 2018 11:47
Court of Appeal holds organ donation policy prioritising patients ordinarily resident in the UK is lawfulR (BA) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2018] EWCA Civ 2696 Related Member(s): Sarah Hannett, Helen Mountfield QC Related Practice Area(s): Healthcare, Mental Health and Mental Capacity, Public Law Court: Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Held, the NHS Blood and Transplant (Gwaed a more...
30 Nov 2018 14:49
Supreme Court will not hear assisted suicide appealConway, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] – read judgment A man suffering from motor neurone disease has been refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in his bid to be allowed to choose when and how to die. He is now wheelchair bound and finds it increasingly more...
27 Nov 2018 11:24
The limits of doctors’ liability for wrongful birthKhan v MNX [2017] EWHC 2990 (QB) – read judgment. The Court of Appeal has held that a mother who consults a doctor in order to avoid the birth of a child with one disability may not recover damages for the costs associated with a different disability. The Facts The respondent, M, was concerned that more...
23 Nov 2018 13:13
Scope of the duty – Avoiding the avalancheWhen is a doctor responsible for losses suffered after they have given bad advice? According to the Court of Appeal, if the loss is “coincidental”, it’s not recoverable. On 23rd November 2018 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the case of MNX v Khan [2018] in which it considered the more...
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