Blog
Administrative Court Overturns NMC Strike-Off: Key Lessons for Regulators and Prosecutors
Jessica Etherington
19 November 2015
Can the NHS reduce stillbirths and avoidable cerebral palsy cases?
The BBC’s Today programme headline “Health Service “ignores stillbirth”” highlights a series published by the Lancet (a UK medical journal). It gives rise to the question of why 1,200 of the 4,000 babies who are stillborn in the UK are normally formed babies of mothers who have low risk pregnancies and are born at over 37 weeks gestation (and therefore have a good chance of survival).
28 October 2015
What happens to claimants who suffer from a pre-existing weakness? The “egg shell skull” rule and challenges ahead
Regardless of the injury sustained, the frailty and fragility of a claimant is no defence in a tort claim. The thin skull rule, also known as the “egg- shell rule”, is a well-established principle in both English tort and criminal law. In Owens v Liverpool Corp [1939] 1KB 394, it was held that “it is no answer to a claim for a fractured skull that the owner had an unusually fragile one”.
23 October 2015
Cerebral Palsy - what are the triggers for investigating a clinical negligence claim?
For many children and adults there is no connection between their cerebral palsy and the circumstances of their birth. For others there is a direct causal link, and for them, their injury may have been avoidable.
13 October 2015
The ‘Weekend Effect’ – How to avoid dying in hospital
A recent study has produced findings which suggest that patients are more likely to die if admitted to hospital on a weekend.
The study, authored by researchers from University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and University College London and published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, examined the effect of hospital admission day on death rates across NHS England hospitals for 2013-2014. The results confirm findings from an analysis they undertook for 2009-2010.
28 September 2015
Cosmetic surgery – do your homework to reduce the risk
The American website myfreeimplants.com allows women to post photos of themselves to solicit donations for cosmetic surgery. Donors are invited to “invest in breasts” by contributing money to women seeking breast implants. Women post photos and messages about their plastic surgery goals and network with online benefactors, and in return, donors pay women to help them “achieve the body of their dreams”. Gobsmacked? So was I.