Blog
From Certificates to Belief Statements: The CPS and the Limits of Forum Bar Intervention
Rebecca Niblock
17 June 2015
Birth injuries series - Fetal distress
Some birth injuries can be anticipated and with prompt and appropriate action serious injuries can sometimes be avoided. If a birth injury is sustained through lack of appropriate care it may be possible to make a clinical negligence claim for compensation.
The focus of this blog is fetal distress and it is the second in our series of six birth injury blogs.
This article first appeared in At Home Magazine.
17 June 2015
A further misguided attack on claimant costs in clinical negligence litigation
On 15 June 2015 The Law Society Gazette reported that the Department of Health has vowed to reduce the £259m annual bill for claimant costs incurred in connection with clinical negligence litigation. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health is reported to have said “Legal costs in clinical negligence claims are too high and take away vital funds which should be used for patient care … We are currently looking at ways to reduce these legal costs”. According to NHS Litigation Authority figures for 2013/14, claimant legal costs amounted to 22% of the £1.2bn expenditure on clinical negligence claims whereas defence costs amounted to 8% of spending.
15 June 2015
The doctor will see you now – will better access to GPs improve patient care?
Isn’t it hard to get an appointment with your GP these days? The anecdotal consensus is that it’s harder than it used to be. A two or three week wait is not unheard of.
David Cameron has recently announced that he wants GPs to open for up to 12 hours every day by 2020 with the ostensible aim of relieving pressure on hospitals and giving working people access to a doctor at weekends. To show he is serious, the Prime Minister has offered to provide additional funding (£400 million over the next five years) to ensure that as many surgeries as possible open from 8am to 8pm.
3 June 2015
Melanoma - diagnosis and treatment
This week brings the start of meteorological summer and the twin temptations of sunny skies and warmer temperatures invite us to indulge in lazy days on the beach, picnics in the park and barbeques in our gardens. However, the advent of better weather brings with it increasing UV exposure, which is the main preventable cause of skin cancer.
3 June 2015
Another death because of systemic failings in hospitals
The article in the Evening Standard yesterday about the tragic death of Guy Bessant raises familiar themes for clinical negligence lawyers.
