Blog
Administrative Court Overturns NMC Strike-Off: Key Lessons for Regulators and Prosecutors
Jessica Etherington
25 April 2016
Child’s birth injury judgement highlights poor standards of medical record keeping
The recent decision of Mrs Justice McGowan in the case of FE (represented by his Litigation Friend PE) v. St Georges University Hospitals NHS Trust demonstrates the dangers run by Defendants in defending claims where the medical records and recording of notes is extremely poor.
15 September 2015
Clinical Negligence - fix the costs and you load the die
You may have seen the recent press coverage relating to the government’s plan to consider introducing fixed recoverable costs for personal injury claims involving clinical negligence worth up to £250,000. There is an underlying premise that this will save the NHS money at the expense of ‘greedy’ lawyers. I find it frustrating that the approach and behaviour of NHS Defendants (which drive up Claimant costs) has so far been overlooked. Additionally, I question the impact that fixed costs would have on injured Claimants’ access to justice.
6 July 2015
The end of the duty of candour double standard?
When things go wrong in healthcare, should the duty of candour owed by providers to patients differ depending on whether the care was provided within a primary or secondary setting? Or whether the patient received care from the public or private sector? A single duty of candour should apply consistently across the healthcare service. Unfortunately, the duty of candour is currently triggered by two different thresholds depending upon who provides care to the patient.
3 June 2015
Consulting Dr Google - A Friend or Foe?
In this increasingly tech-savvy age, it has become common to “google” one’s symptoms. For many of us, consulting the virtual Dr Google has become the first port of call for medical information. A recent Australian study by the Queensland University of Technology titled ‘'Dr. Google' doesn't know best: Search engine self-diagnosis and 'cyberchondria', has shown that 5% of all monthly Google searches are now health related; this equates to approximately five billion monthly searches.
5 March 2015
Can I litigate without publicity? - Anonymity in personal injury and clinical negligence claims
A recent Court of Appeal decision has made it easier for children and “protected parties” (adults who lack mental capacity to conduct their affairs) to have their identity protected when settling a claim for personal injury or clinical negligence.