Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Legal issue'.
Found 575 results
-
News Article
GMC shares doctors frustration at delays to its reform
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The GMC has responded to senior medical leaders’ frustration at news that the Government is again delaying long-promised plans for its reform which would ease the strain felt by doctors. Its chief executive said its Council shared widespread disappointment at the hold-up in changing the legislation – which was expected this year, but will not now happen until 2024-25. Charlie Massey told Independent Practitioner Today: "Physician associates and anaesthesia associates are an important part of the health workforce and we welcome progress to bring them into regulation, which we will do within 12 months of legislation being laid by Government. "But we are disappointed that the outdated legislation for doctors will not be replaced at the same time. "The current framework stops us from being responsive and flexible in how we address patient safety concerns and register doctors to join the UK workforce. That isn’t good for patients and puts unnecessary strain on doctors. "The Government has said that it expects to deliver reforms for doctors as a priority following its work on physician associates and anaesthesia associates." Mr Massey called for a clearer commitment on the specific timing of that work, adding that the GMC wanted to progress better regulation for both doctors and medical associate professionals (MAPs) as soon as the Department of Health and Social Care laid the necessary legislation. "It is now the department’s decision when and how to implement these changes. When the department does implement these changes, we will be ready to start the process to put the reform changes into practice," he said. Read full story Source: Independent Practitioner Today, 9 August 2022 -
News Article
Negligence legal costs can be three times as much as compensation
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Legal costs in some lower-value medical negligence claims can be double or even triple the amount of compensation paid to patients. Figures in the Medical Defence Union’s (MDU’s) annual report for 2021 reveal the average sum paid in claimants’ legal costs on medical claims settled for up to £10,000 was in excess of £18,500. For claims settled between £10,000 and £25,000, the average was nearly £35,000. The not-for-profit indemnifier called on the Government to proceed quickly with the reforms needed to the clinical negligence system to make disproportionate legal costs a thing of the past. Its chief executive Dr Matthew Lee said: "Disproportionate legal costs are one of several defects in the current litigation system and particularly affect lower value claims. "It cannot be right for legal costs paid to claimants’ lawyers to regularly exceed the damages paid to claimants by double or triple the amount." Read full story Source: Independent Practitioner Today, 9 August 2022 -
Content ArticleIn this British Journal of Nursing article, John Tingle, Lecturer in Law, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham, discusses some recent reports on the duty of candour and shared decision-making.
-
News ArticleRussell-Cooke personal injury and clinical negligence partner Grant Incles recently represented Mrs Karen Preater in a clinical negligence case over vaginal mesh surgery performed on her at a hospital in north Wales in 2014. Wrexham County Court found in favour of Mrs Preater, and roundly dismissed allegations made by the defendant in this case, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, that the claimant had lied in the presentation of her case, as part of a Fundamental Dishonesty defence. Mrs Preater underwent vaginal mesh surgery in January 2014 - to which she had not been properly consented. The surgery itself was performed negligently and as a result she suffered a life-changing chronic pain condition. In late 2020, the defendant carried out intrusive video surveillance of Mrs Preater and trawled through her life on social media, proceeding to launch a defence of Fundamental Dishonesty pursuant to S.57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. The defendant alleged that the claimant was seeking to lie to the Court about her ability to work and need for care and assistance which, if found to be correct by the Court, would have meant that Mrs Preater would have lost all of her claimed compensation, and which may well have led to an application by the defendant to have her committed to prison for her alleged dishonesty. The case was fought to trial over seven days in July 2022. HHJ Howells found that Mrs Preater had not sought to deceive any party at any time and should be fully compensated for her grave suffering since being injured over eight years ago. Read full story Source: Russell-Cooke, 4 August 2022 Court judgement: 22081101.Preater v BCUHB approved judgment dated 4 August 2022.pdf
-
Content Article
The NHS whistleblowing crisis (8 February 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Whistle blowing
Tommy Greene and David Hencke report on a number of worrying NHS dismissal cases in this Byline Times article. -
News ArticleOn 24 June the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that legalised abortion and left the regulation of abortion to the states.4 At present, about half of the 50 states ban or severely limit abortions, but the picture is changing daily as century old bans go into place in some states, bans are challenged in courts, and state legislatures debate changes to their laws. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said, “Each piece of legislation is different, using different language and rationales. State legislators are taking it upon themselves to define complex medical concepts without reference to medical evidence. Some of the penalties for violating these vague, unscientific laws include criminal sentences.” Doctors report being confused and fearful about how they can continue to practise in states where abortion laws are changing day by day and sometimes hour by hour. Katie McHugh, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Indianapolis, where abortion until 20 weeks is legal for the moment, told The BMJ about a patient who arrived from another state (around 200 miles away) with a miscarriage. “A fetal heartbeat could still be detected. The local hospital sent her home and told her to come back if she became very sick.” Instead she travelled two and a half hours by car to McHugh. “I don’t blame the physicians in [the other state]. I don’t know if abortion is legal now a trigger law is in effect. They could face lawsuits. As a physician, it’s unacceptable to have to watch the news to know what’s legal and how to practise,” said McHugh. Read full story Source: BMJ, 1 August 2022
-
News Article
Mesh surgeon fails in bid to stop legal action against trust being made public
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A leading colorectal surgeon whose former employer, North Bristol NHS Trust, faces negligence claims from dozens of his ex-patients has failed in his bid to keep legal action he is taking against the trust a secret. A review by the trust found that 203 women on whom the surgeon Tony Dixon performed pelvic mesh procedures between 2007 and 2017 came to harm. The trust faces legal claims from many of them. Trust board members were told in May that the trust had notified the 203 women that “although their laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy operation was carried out satisfactorily, they should have been offered alternative treatments before proceeding to surgery,” and that those patients were defined as suffering “harm.” Dixon sued the trust in the High Court to try to stop it releasing two documents to solicitors acting for ex-patients, as part of the disclosure process in litigation. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 27 July 2022 -
News Article
Safety fears as NHS medical negligence claims soar
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost 75 years since its foundation, the NHS is struggling with delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the “greatest workforce crisis” in its history. A report from MPs on the health committee this week showed 105,000 vacancies for doctors, nurses and midwives, as thousands quit owing to burnout, bullying, pension rules and low pay. Jeremy Hunt, the committee’s chairman, said that the “persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety”. Lawyers warned that the crisis risked increasing the number of negligence claims. Spending on claims by NHS Resolution rose to £2.5 billion in 2021-22 compared with £2.3 billion in the previous year, according to its annual report published last week. The bill increased despite initiatives to cut the number of cases going to court and foster greater collaboration with claimant lawyers. Claimant lawyers welcomed NHS Resolution’s more collaborative approach and desire to resolve cases sooner. They argued, however, that the defensive culture remained and suggested there should be a greater focus on patient safety and learning from mistakes. John McQuater, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said that NHS Resolution’s denials and delays meant that injured patients had to turn to lawyers to find answers. He said that earlier investigation into patient safety incidents and earlier admissions of liability by NHS trusts would speed up the system, cutting costs and human misery. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 28 July 2022 -
News Article
Jeremy Hunt calls contaminated-blood scandal a huge failing of democracy
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has told a public inquiry institutions and the state can sometimes "close ranks around a lie". Giving evidence at the infected-blood inquiry, he said it could be seen as a "huge failing of democracy" that victims had waited so long for justice. At least 5,000 people contracted HIV or hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s, after being given contaminated blood products and transfusions on the NHS. More than 2,400 have died as a result. Jenni Richards QC asked whether a 2012 briefing for new ministers in the health department - "almost certainly" not shown to Mr Hunt at the time - stating, under a heading "Key facts", hepatitis C and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection had been a problem in the 1970s and 80s, "before it was possible to screen donors and make products safer", suggested the contamination had been an "unavoidable problem". Mr Hunt, health secretary for six years until July 2018, replied: "I mean, that briefing is wrong and it shouldn't say that. "At the very least, ministers should be aware as politicians that this is contentious and disputed by families - but I'm afraid it tries to suggest the issue is closed when it is not." Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 July 2022 -
Content ArticleThis guidance is for Integrated Care Boards, NHS trusts, foundation trusts and NHS England. It supports effectively partnership working with people and communities to improve services and meet the public involvement legal duties.
-
EventJoin this Royal Society of Medicine conference to learn some of the key medico-legal issues that impact upon GPs/primary care. The overarching aim is to improve patient safety in both primary and secondary care via learning from incidents and better understanding the indemnity provisions in place for GPs/primary care and how that feeds back into learning. The aim of this meeting is to review and promote an understanding of recent legal and regulatory developments, with a specific emphasis on inquests, clinical negligence and incidents in the primary care sector, and their impact upon patient safety. Additionally, we will also discuss issues that those in secondary care should also be aware of. Register
-
Content ArticleThis annual report sets out how NHS Resolution's dispute resolution strategy has continued to drive down litigation against the NHS in England in 2021-22. 77% of claims made by patients were resolved in 2021/22 without court proceedings, continuing the year-on-year reduction for the last five years, and in line with the organisation's strategy to keep patients and healthcare staff out of court. NHS Resolution achieved this reduction through a range of dispute resolution approaches and continued cooperation across the legal market. It emphasises that the reduction in litigation has not been at the expense of a rigorous approach to investigation.
-
News Article
US abortion laws spark profound changes in other medical care
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A sexual assault survivor chooses sterilization so that if she is ever attacked again, she won’t be forced to give birth to a rapist’s baby. An obstetrician delays inducing a miscarriage until a woman with severe pregnancy complications seems “sick enough.” A lupus patient must stop taking medication that controls her illness because it can also cause miscarriages. Abortion restrictions in a number of states and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade are having profound repercussions in reproductive medicine as well as in other areas of medical care. “For physicians and patients alike, this is a frightening and fraught time, with new, unprecedented concerns about data privacy, access to contraception, and even when to begin lifesaving care,” said Dr. Jack Resneck, president of the American Medical Association. Even in medical emergencies, doctors are sometimes declining immediate treatment. In the past week, an Ohio abortion clinic received calls from two women with ectopic pregnancies — when an embryo grows outside the uterus and can’t be saved — who said their doctors wouldn’t treat them. Ectopic pregnancies often become life-threatening emergencies and abortion clinics aren’t set up to treat them. It’s just one example of “the horrible downstream effects of criminalizing abortion care,″ said Dr. Catherine Romanos, who works at the Dayton clinic. Read full story Source: AP News, 16 July 2022 -
News Article
Medical expert witnesses ‘should not scapegoat doctors’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Medical experts in cases involving doctors should have a mandatory duty to consider systems issues such as inadequate staffing levels to avoid them being scapegoated for wider failures, the Medical Protection Society (MPS) has said. The MPS, which supports the the professional interests of more than 300,000 healthcare professionals around the world, says medical expert reports focus on scrutinising the actions of the individual doctor even when failings are a result of the setting in which they work. Its report on the issue, shared with the Guardian before publication, points out that for doctors “adverse opinion can lead to loss of career or liberty”. It references the case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba who was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in 2015 and handed a 24-month suspended sentence for her part in the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock from sepsis. She was later struck off by the General Medical Council before the court of appeal overturned the GMC’s decision. Dr Rob Hendry, the MPS medical director, said: “In giving an opinion on whether or not the care provided by a doctor has fallen short of a reasonable standard, it would seem fair to the doctor that the medical expert considers all relevant circumstances. Any individual performance concerns must of course be addressed, but doctors should not be scapegoats for the failings of the settings in which they work. Sadly, we see this all too often in cases against doctors … “Many expert reports focus solely on the actions of the individual without considering the wider context. In reality, patient harm arising from medical error is rarely attributable to the actions of a single individual. Inadequate staffing levels, lack of resources, or faulty IT systems are just some issues which can contribute to adverse incidents. Doctors confront these issues every day and have little influence over them.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 July 2022 -
Content Article
Vaginal mesh: The forgotten women (4 July 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Women's health
Mesh survivors Katherine Cousins and Mary McLaughlin talk about their ongoing fight for justice for women suffering due to vaginal mesh. -
Content ArticleDiscussion on issues relating to vaginal mesh implants from 29 Jun 2022.
-
News Article
Becton Dickinson ordered to pay $255k in hernia mesh trial
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A jury ordered Becton, Dickinson and Co to pay $255,000 to a man who sued the company, alleging he had been injured by its hernia repair surgical mesh, according to a court filing. The verdict in Columbus, Ohio federal court comes in the second bellwether trial in a multidistrict litigation over the company's hernia mesh products, which were sold by C.R. Bard Inc before its 2017 acquisition by Becton Dickinson. The first bellwether trial last year ended with a verdict in favour of the company. More than 16,000 cases have been consolidated before Chief U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus in Columbus, in the third-largest pending MDL nationwide. Plaintiffs claim that the mesh products caused infections, pain, inflammation and other problems. The verdict came in a case brought by Antonio Milanesi, who had Bard's Ventralex mesh implanted during a hernia repair in 2007, and his wife, Alicia Morz De Milanesi. They claimed that Milanesi developed an infection and bowel abscess because of the mesh, requiring a second surgery in 2017. Like other plaintiffs in the MDL, the Milanesis say the mesh products are defectively designed because their polypropylene material degrades when in implanted in human tissue. Read full story Source: Reuters, 16 April 2022 -
News ArticlePhysicians must continue to offer abortions in cases of medical emergencies without exception, Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday, as it insisted federal law would overrule any total state bans on abortion. In a letter to healthcare providers, the president’s health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) protects providers from any purported state restrictions should they be required to perform emergency abortions. “Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care – including abortion care,” Becerra said. “Today, in no uncertain terms, we are reinforcing that we expect providers to continue offering these services, and that federal law preempts state abortion bans when needed for emergency care.” Becerra said medical emergencies include ectopic pregnancies, complications arising from miscarriages, and pre-eclampsia, NBC News reported. Becerra said in his letter to medical providers: “If a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department, including certain labor and delivery departments, is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment. “And when a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life and health of the pregnant person – or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition – that state law is preempted.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 July 2022
-
Content ArticleIt is important that patients understand the risks, benefits and alternatives associated with their treatment, but there is often a gap in patients' actual understanding of these issues. There is now substantial evidence showing that patient decision aids (PDAs) and shared decision making can bridge the gap between the theory and practice of informed consent. However, in spite of the evidence, PDAs are still rarely used in clinical settings. This article in the journal Maine Law Review looks at how the monetary incentive of a professional liability insurance premium reduction could encourage doctors in the USA to increase the use of PDAs.
-
Content ArticleIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department for Health and Social Care (The Department) began an unprecedented programme of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) procurement buying items such as gowns, gloves and masks. It eventually purchased 37.9 billion items at a cost of just over £13 billion. Two years on from that initial procurement activity the Department is still having to manage many of the contracts that it signed. It has now received nearly all of the PPE that it ordered but it is in dispute with many suppliers over the quality of the PPE that has been supplied and is also looking at whether fraud was committed on certain contracts. Much of the PPE still resides in storage locations, both around the UK and in China, and the Department is looking at options for how it might now dispose of some of the stock that it deems to be excess. Responsibility for management of the PPE programme has now largely been transferred back to Supply Chain Co-ordination Limited, the NHS’s main procurement partner prior to the pandemic. This report makes a series of recommendations.
-
News ArticleA woman was kept in police custody for 36 hours after having a stillbirth because of suspicions she had an abortion after the legal cut-off point, it has been claimed. UK abortion providers, who supported the woman, denied she had flouted the legal deadline and warned the treatment she endured “should be unthinkable in a civilised society”, with “no conceivable” public interest in holding her. They added that the woman has been under investigation for a year and a half, but still not charged with any crime. Jonathan Lord, medical director of MSI Reproductive Choices, one of the UK’s leading abortion providers, told The Independent the woman unexpectedly delivered a stillborn foetus at home that was about 24 weeks old. Dr Lord, the co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers, who shared the woman’s story with The Independent, said: “She was shocked to give birth due to not knowing how far along pregnant she was. She was admitted to hospital. “Because healthcare colleagues were suspicious, and knew she had been in touch with us, an abortion provider, as she told them, they suspected her of having an illegal abortion and called the police. But she wasn’t over the limit for a legal abortion. Dr Lord said the experience of having an “extraordinarily unexpected” stillbirth before being taken into police custody during lockdown was “traumatic” and “distressing” for the woman. Read full story Source: The Independent, 5 July 2022
-
Content ArticleThis study presents the findings of ‘The concept of seriousness in fitness to practise’ project commissioned by the General Dental Council (GDC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The project took place between December 2019 and September 2021 and investigated how seriousness in Fitness to Practise (FtP) cases is understood and applied by health professions regulators. The research aimed to: develop an understanding of how the concept of seriousness in relation to misconduct is defined and applied by professional regulators, and to identify the considerations that influence that application. achieve a clearer understanding of the similarities and differences in approaches across regulation and reasons for these. describe the relationship between professional misconduct, enforcement actions and the statutory objectives of healthcare regulation.
-
Content ArticleRepresentatives from Mesh Ireland and Mesh Survivors have this week appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee, where questions were raised about access to vital diagnostic machines and treament for women who have had vaginal mesh implants put in. Vaginal mesh devices were used to treat issues in women after childbirth, or in their later years, and while it’s not known how many procedures were carried out, it’s believed there were more than 10,000 on the public system alone. Women have experienced painful complications as a result of the procedure and Founder of the Mesh Survivors Ireland Campaign, Melanie Power, who’s a solicitor from Meelick, says many women are unable to work and can’t afford the cost of ongoing treatment. She believes questions need to be answered on why women affected by a post-natal procedure which can cause chronic pain are being means tested for the medical card. Listen to the full interview on Clare FM below.
-
News Article
Thalidomide survivors in Scotland to get lifelong support
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thalidomide survivors living in Scotland will receive lifelong financial support, the Scottish government has announced. Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he hoped the commitment to provide grants would reassure those affected. There are 50 known survivors of the banned pregnancy drug living in Scotland, most now in their 60s. They are among thousands born with limb deformities after their mothers took thalidomide while pregnant. The drug was commonly used to treat morning sickness from 1958 to 1961. In 2013 the Scottish government committed £14.2m to help survivors over a 10-year period, with the money going on health and living costs. Ministers have now extended that agreement, with grants to be allocated to survivors on a needs basis, as assessed by the Thalidomide Trust. Mr Yousaf said: "This funding is used to give thalidomide survivors as much assistance as they need to maintain their independence. It has been a vital support in helping people adapt their homes and manage their pain. "I hope this lifelong commitment to continue this support will reassure recipients and help them deal with any challenges they face." Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 July 2022 -
Content ArticleIn the first in a two-part series looking at the work of the coroner, James Sira talks to Derek Winter about the role of the coroner, medical examiner, and the coroner’s inquest. Derek is HM Senior Coroner for the City of Sunderland and was appointed as one of the two Deputy Chief Coroners of England and Wales in 2019. He has conducted a wide range of cases in the 15 years he has spent as a coroner and has modernised the Sunderland coroner service. Most intensive care doctors will at some point in their career be required to provide a statement for or give evidence at a coroner’s inquest, and this can be a daunting experience.
