Jump to content

Search the hub

Showing results for tags 'Legal issue'.

More search options

  • Search By Tags

    Start to type the tag you want to use, then select from the list.

  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • All
    • Commissioning, service provision and innovation in health and care
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Culture
    • Improving patient safety
    • Investigations, risk management and legal issues
    • Leadership for patient safety
    • Organisations linked to patient safety (UK and beyond)
    • Patient engagement
    • Patient safety in health and care
    • Patient Safety Learning
    • Professionalising patient safety
    • Research, data and insight
    • Miscellaneous

Categories

  • Commissioning, service provision and innovation in health and care
    • Commissioning and funding patient safety
    • Digital health and care service provision
    • Health records and plans
    • Innovation programmes in health and care
    • Climate change/sustainability
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Blogs
    • Data, research and statistics
    • Frontline insights during the pandemic
    • Good practice and useful resources
    • Guidance
    • Mental health
    • Exit strategies
    • Patient recovery
    • Questions around Government governance
  • Culture
    • Bullying and fear
    • Good practice
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Safety culture programmes
    • Second victim
    • Speak Up Guardians
    • Staff safety
    • Whistle blowing
  • Improving patient safety
    • Clinical governance and audits
    • Design for safety
    • Disasters averted/near misses
    • Equipment and facilities
    • Error traps
    • Health inequalities
    • Human factors (improving human performance in care delivery)
    • Improving systems of care
    • Implementation of improvements
    • International development and humanitarian
    • Safety stories
    • Stories from the front line
    • Workforce and resources
  • Investigations, risk management and legal issues
    • Investigations and complaints
    • Risk management and legal issues
  • Leadership for patient safety
    • Business case for patient safety
    • Boards
    • Clinical leadership
    • Exec teams
    • Inquiries
    • International reports
    • National/Governmental
    • Patient Safety Commissioner
    • Quality and safety reports
    • Techniques
    • Other
  • Organisations linked to patient safety (UK and beyond)
    • Government and ALB direction and guidance
    • International patient safety
    • Regulators and their regulations
  • Patient engagement
    • Consent and privacy
    • Harmed care patient pathways/post-incident pathways
    • How to engage for patient safety
    • Keeping patients safe
    • Patient-centred care
    • Patient Safety Partners
    • Patient stories
  • Patient safety in health and care
    • Care settings
    • Conditions
    • Diagnosis
    • High risk areas
    • Learning disabilities
    • Medication
    • Mental health
    • Men's health
    • Patient management
    • Social care
    • Transitions of care
    • Women's health
  • Patient Safety Learning
    • Patient Safety Learning campaigns
    • Patient Safety Learning documents
    • Patient Safety Standards
    • 2-minute Tuesdays
    • Patient Safety Learning Annual Conference 2019
    • Patient Safety Learning Annual Conference 2018
    • Patient Safety Learning Awards 2019
    • Patient Safety Learning Interviews
    • Patient Safety Learning webinars
  • Professionalising patient safety
    • Accreditation for patient safety
    • Competency framework
    • Medical students
    • Patient safety standards
    • Training & education
  • Research, data and insight
    • Data and insight
    • Research
  • Miscellaneous

News

  • News

Categories

  • Files

Calendars

  • Community Calendar

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start
    End

Last updated

  • Start
    End

Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End

Group

First name

Last name

Country

Join a private group (if appropriate)

About me

Organisation

Role

Found 575 results
  1. News Article
    The NHS has been accused of “breaking the law” by creating a massive data platform that will share information about patients. Four organisations are bringing a lawsuit against NHS England claiming that there is no legal basis for its setting up of the Federated Data Platform (FDP). They plan to seek a judicial review of its decision. NHS England sparked controversy last week when it handed the £330m contract to establish and operate the FDP for seven years from next spring to Palantir, the US spytech company. The platform involves software that will allow health service trusts and also integrated care systems, or regional groupings of trusts, to share information much more easily in order to improve care. Rosa Curling, director of Foxglove, a campaign group that monitors big tech and which is co-ordinating the lawsuit, said: “The government has gambled £330m on overhauling how NHS data is handled but bizarrely seems to have left off the bit where they make sure their system is lawful. NHS England says the platform will help hospitals tackle the 7.8m-strong backlog of care they are facing and enable them to discharge sooner patients who are medically fit to leave. But this may be the first in a series of legal actions prompted by fears that the FDP could lead to breaches of sensitive patient health information, and to data ultimately being sold. “You can’t just massively expand access to confidential patient data without making sure you also follow the law.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 30 November 2023
  2. Content Article
    How would you feel if your doctor offered you a treatment your health condition with good results and very little risk? You might snap it up. But what if you subsequently found out your doctor took thousands of pounds from the treatment makers to write a scientific paper promoting it, attend an all-expenses paid conference to talk about it, or spent time working as their expert consultant? In America, industry must log payments which are published on the open database system. Reporting to this is backed up by law following the American Sunshine Payment Act (2013). Sling the Mesh is calling for similar legislation in the UK to provide up-to-date evidence on industry money exchanging hands we Kath Sansom discusses in a blog on the Patient Safety Commissioner website.
  3. News Article
    A patients group representing several British victims has launched legal action against the Spanish government over claims it failed to safeguard people against the potentially fatal side effects of one of the country’s most popular painkillers, involved in a series of serious illnesses and deaths. The drug metamizole, commonly sold in Spain under the brand name Nolotil, is banned in several countries, including Britain, the US, India and Australia. It can cause a condition known as agranulocytosis, which reduces white blood cells, increasing the risk of potentially fatal infection. The Association of Drug Affected Patients (ADAF) says adverse reactions to the drugs have led to sepsis, organ failure and amputations. It has identified about 350 suspected cases of agranulocytosis between 1996 and 2023, including those of 170 Britons who live in Spain or were on holiday there. The ADAF is examining more than 40 fatalities in which it considers the drug may have led, or contributed, to death. The patients group says that case reports, including a 2009 study, suggest the British population may be more susceptible to the drug’s side effects, but this has not been confirmed by independent scientific study. The group is demanding an investigation into the drug and new controls. It filed its action on 14 November in the national court in Madrid. Cristina García del Campo, founder of the organisation, said: “This drug has destroyed people’s lives and it should now be withdrawn. One lady took three tablets and she had part of her feet amputated and several fingers. Even if it doesn’t kill you, once you’ve had sepsis your body is never the same.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 26 November 2023
  4. Event
    until
    NHS Resolution’s Safety and Learning team, are hosting a virtual forum on perspectives on delivering health in the prison and justice system. The purpose is to raise awareness of the cost and scale of harm, discuss the realities, best practice, challenges and recommendations around collaborating to support healthcare delivery in the justice system. We will hear from a diverse range of experts in the field. The format is interactive, with presentations followed by questions and panel discussion. Event programme: Learning from prison claims - NHS Resolution The realities of delivering healthcare in prison - Practice Plus Group Good practice and themes from inspections - HM Inspectorate of Prisons The medico-legal aspect of prison health claims - Bevan Brittan Q&A panel discussion. Register
  5. Content Article
    Yvette Greenway-Mansfield experienced complications relating to the vaginal mesh that was used to treat a uterine prolapse. Those complications were not listed on the consent form she signed. Fortunately, she kept her copy and was able to prove this. Yvette has recently been awarded £1 million because it was found that her form had been doctored after she had signed it.   Her successful medical negligence claim was also based on the fact that alternative treatment options were not considered when they should have been. These alternatives came with fewer risks, and it was agreed that they would actually have been more suitable in her case.  In this blog, I reflect on the levels of harm caused to the patient and how digital consent forms could help protect others. 
  6. News Article
    The public inquiry into the Lucy Letby murders will seek changes to NHS services and culture next year despite the fact that formal hearings are likely to be delayed until the autumn. Inquiry chair Lady Justice Thirlwall will issue an update message later today. In it she will stress the inquiry will “look for necessary changes to be made to the system of neonatal care in this country in real time and at the earliest opportunity, avoiding delays in making meaningful change”. HSJ understands Lady Thirlwall will look to agree on some changes, based on the inquiry’s evidence gathering and discussions with the sector before it begins oral hearings – which are unlikely to start for at least a year due to ongoing legal action. Lady Thirlwall will say the legal constraints mean its early work will focus on the experience of families who were named in the cases already heard; and “on the effectiveness of NHS management, culture, governance structures and processes, as well as on the external scrutiny and professional regulation supposed to keep babies in hospital safe and well looked after”. She said, “I want this to be a searching and active inquiry in the sense that it will look for necessary changes to be made to the system of neonatal care in this country in real time and at the earliest opportunity, avoiding delays in making meaningful change”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 November 2023
  7. Content Article
    Professor Jane Somerville, emeritus professor of cardiology at Imperial College, talks about the issues facing doctors who raise concerns about patient safety issues in the NHS. She shares her views on the risks facing doctors who speak up and the ways that healthcare managers treat whistle blowers. She also highlights issues in the employment tribunal system and outlines the need to regulate NHS managers. In the video, Jane mentions the employment tribunal of Dr Martyn Pitman. Since this interview was recorded, Dr Pitman lost the case he brought for retaliatory victimisation.
  8. News Article
    A woman who suffered traumatic complications from a vaginal mesh implant has been awarded a record settlement of at least £1m from the NHS. Yvette Greenway-Mansfield, 59, was given a mesh implant at Coventry’s University Hospital in 2009 and went on to suffer serious complications. Her medical negligence claim against the hospital trust found that the surgery was carried out prematurely and unnecessarily and that her consent form had been doctored to include additional risks after Greenway-Mansfield had signed it. Greenway-Mansfield said that being awarded the compensation was a “huge relief”, but added that many other women who have suffered similar damage had received little or no compensation, and criticised the government’s failure to establish a financial redress agency for victims. “I’m not the only one. There are thousands of mes,” she said. “There should be a pot of money to provide damages for these women and a care plan in place as an automatic response to mesh-damaged people. It comes down to a perception of women and women’s health problems. We’ve all had enough of it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 November 2023
  9. News Article
    AstraZeneca is facing legal action over its Covid vaccine, by a man who suffered severe brain injury after having the jab in April 2021. Father-of-two Jamie Scott suffered a blood clot that left him with brain damage and unable to keep working. The action, taken under the Consumer Protection Act, alleges the vaccine was "defective" as it was less safe than individuals were entitled to expect. Studies suggest Covid vaccines have saved millions of lives. In June 2022, the World Health Organization said the AstraZeneca vaccine was "safe and effective for individuals aged 18 and above". A further claim from about 80 people who say they were injured by the AstraZeneca vaccine is also due to be launched later this year but Mr Scott's case is expected to be heard first. AstraZeneca said: "Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines. "Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. "From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, Vaxzevria [the vaccine against Covid] has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects." Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 November 2023 Related reading on the hub: Interview with Charlet Crichton, founder of UKCVFamily
  10. News Article
    Priory Healthcare faces legal action following the death of a vulnerable man who was hit by a train after leaving Birmingham’s Priory Hospital Woodbourne in September 2020. Matthew Caseby, 23, detained under the Mental Health Act, escaped the hospital by climbing a 2.3-metre fence. The inquest jury, which heard the University of Birmingham graduate should have been under constant observation but was left alone, reached a conclusion that his death “was contributed to by neglect”. Concerns were raised about the hospital's record-keeping, risk assessments, and fence safety. Following the inquest, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) charged Priory Healthcare with two offences under the Health and Safety Act 2008, related to failing to provide safe care and treatment, and exposing a patient to avoidable harm. Read full story Source: ITV, 6 November 2023
  11. Content Article
    Medical Protection have brought experienced medical educators, medicolegal consultants and world leading experts together to help inform, protect and connect doctors from across the globe. This channel offers three distinct series; Real World focuses on the challenges and solutions to modern day practice, Headliners ensures you are kept up-to-date, and Case files lets us learn through real life cases.
  12. Content Article
    A new guide to help health service trusts tackle racial discrimination in disciplinary procedures and promote inclusivity has been launched by NHS Providers.
  13. News Article
    A public inquiry into the deaths of at least 2,000 mental health inpatients has been relaunched with new powers. The Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry was established in 2021 to investigate the deaths of people on mental health wards in the county. The number of initial responses to the inquiry from current and former staff was described as "disappointing". The inquiry has converted to a statutory inquiry meaning witnesses can be forced to give evidence. It is understood the new chairwoman is considering extending the inquiry's timeframe to include deaths from the start of 2000 until the end of 2023. Baroness Kate Lampard, leading the inquiry, said: "I am determined to conduct this inquiry in a fair, thorough and balanced manner. "I am also concerned to ensure that I do not take any longer than necessary - the recommendations from this inquiry are urgent and cannot be delayed." She added: "To be clear from the outset, I will not be compelling families to give evidence. "Evidence from staff, management and organisations will be gathered in a proportionate, fair and appropriate manner." Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 November 2023
  14. News Article
    Dr Martyn Pitman claimed retaliatory victimisation after raising morale concerns but tribunal says it was his manner that cost him his job. A doctor has said raising whistleblowing concerns about maternity care at his hospital “cost me very dearly” after he lost his employment tribunal. Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Martyn Pitman was dismissed earlier this year from his job at the Royal Hampshire county hospital (RHCH) in Winchester, where he had worked for 20 years. He told the Southampton tribunal, which concluded earlier this month, that he had been “subjected to brutal retaliatory victimisation” after exercising his rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act. A tribunal judgment released on Friday said there had been “unanimous” agreement that the arguments behind the whistleblowing claim “fail and are dismissed”. Read full story Source: Guardian, 29 October 2023
  15. News Article
    Lawyers for a doctor at the centre of Northern Ireland's biggest patient recall have withdrawn from his new fitness to practise hearing. Legal representatives for Michael Watt said they are "concerned about his serious mental health condition". They told the Medical Practice Tribunal Service that the continuation of the hearing in public "presents a real risk to his mental health". A new fitness to practise hearing began in September. The legal team has also formally withdrawn an application to the tribunal for Michael Watt to remove himself from the medical register. It followed a ruling by the High Court earlier this year to quash a decision where he previously was voluntary erased from the medical register. The tribunal is inquiring into the allegation that, between 7 and 22 of October 2018, Michael Watt underwent a General Medical Council assessment of the standard of his professional performance. It is alleged that that performance was unacceptable in the areas of maintaining professional performance, assessment, clinical management, record keeping and relationship with patients. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 October 2023
  16. News Article
    Some care home residents may have been "neglected and left to starve" during the pandemic, Scotland's Covid Inquiry is expected to hear. Lawyers representing bereaved relatives said they also anticipate the inquiry will hear some people were forced into agreeing to "do not resuscitate" plans. Shelagh McCall KC told the inquiry that evidence to be led would "point to a systemic failure of the model of care". The public inquiry is investigating Scotland's response to the pandemic. Ms McCall is representing Bereaved Relatives Group Skye, a group of bereaved relatives and care workers from Skye and five other health board areas of Scotland. In her opening statement, she told the public inquiry that families wanted to know why Covid was allowed to enter care homes and "spread like wildfire" during the pandemic. She added: "As well as revealing the suffering of individuals and their families, we anticipate the evidence in these hearings will point to a systemic failure of the model for the delivery of care in Scotland, for its regulation and inspection. "We anticipate the inquiry will hear that people were pressured to agree to do not resuscitate notices, that people were not resuscitated even though no such notice was in place, that residents may have been neglected and left to starve and that families are not sure they were told the truth about their relative's death." Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 October 2023
  17. Content Article
    On 4 September 2023, England’s health and social care secretary Steve Barclay announced that the government was considering introducing 'Martha’s rule', requiring NHS hospitals to give quick access to a second clinical opinion in urgent cases. In this article, Clare Dyer of the BMJ looks at how the introduction of a formal system to allow patients or families the right to demand an urgent second opinion will affect doctors.
  18. Content Article
    Extravasation is the leakage of intravenously administered solution into surrounding tissues, which can cause serious damage to the patient. There are multiple guidelines and local policies relating to extravasation injuries but not a singular national uniform policy.  NHS Resolution share their recent slides on what can be learned from extravasation claims, presented at the IV Therapy Summit.
  19. Content Article
    When a patient is deteriorating but no one is listening, Martha’s rule will guarantee a second opinion. Martha’s mother, Merope Mills, calls for doctors and nurses to embrace its implementation.
  20. News Article
    An employment and equality lawyer will lead investigations into claims of racism, sexism and toxic culture at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The nursing regulator has appointed Ijeoma Omambala KC to review claims that fitness to practise cases have been mishandled, especially those involving racism, discrimination, sexual misconduct and child protection. She will lead a concurrent investigation into how complaints about allegations were handled. "I’m sorry anyone has concerns about our culture, and the regulatory decisions we take. We’re committed to a rigorous, transparent and independent response". Read full story (paywalled) Source: Nursing Standard, 17 October 2023
  21. News Article
    Police are investigating possible corporate manslaughter at the hospital where serial killer Lucy Letby worked. The former nurse, 33, was jailed in August for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Cheshire Police said the latest investigation was in its early stages. Lawyers representing some of the victims' families said they were "reassured" steps were being taken to consider the actions of management. Organisations and companies can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care under The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Det Supt Simon Blackwell, of Cheshire Police, said the inquiry would focus on the indictment period of the charges for Letby from June 2015 to June 2016. He said the investigation would consider areas "including senior leadership and decision making to determine whether any criminality has taken place". "At this stage we are not investigating any individuals in relation to gross negligence manslaughter," he added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 October 2023
  22. Content Article
    Martha’s Rule is currently a topic of intense discussion and debate. Behind the rule is a sad and tragic story which strikes at the heart of NHS care delivery – clinical failures and the death of a 13-year-old girl. In this blog, John Tingle argues there is a need to formalise the right of patients and their families/carers to obtain an urgent clinical review, second opinion.
  23. Event
    until
    An online half day conference from the Legal Training Consultancy with a panel of seven speakers, including five KCs. Who should attend? The conference will appeal to solicitors, barristers, medical professionals, expert witnesses, NHS Trusts and Private Health Providers, insurers and associations. Topics Causation and divisible vs indivisible injuries. Scope of the Duty of Care. The law on consent to medical treatment following McCullough v Forth Valley Health Board in the Supreme Court. A medical perspective on proposals for reform of medical litigation. Case law update. CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and “lost years” compensation. Early investigation of cerebral palsy claims: The lessons learned. Speakers: Alexander Hutton KC, Hailsham Chambers Ben Collins KC Old Square Chambers Richard Booth KC, 1 Crown Office Row Richard Baker KC, 7BR Owain Thomas KC 1 Crown Office Row Jeremy Pendlebury, 7BR Hugh Whitfield , Consultant Urological Surgeon Register
  24. News Article
    More than 1 in 10 sexual harassment complaints against doctors are not investigated by the General Medical Council because of an “arbitary” rule, the Observer has revealed. According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, 13% of sexual misconduct complaints made between the years 2017-18 and 2021-22 were closed without investigation because the GMC is prevented from considering alleged incidents more than five years after the event. As part of the council’s remit to protect patient safety and improve medical education and practice across the UK it investigates any kind of complaint against doctors. The figures show the GMC refused to investigate 170 complaints relating to sexual assault, attempted rape, and rape in the period analysed. In 22 of those cases the five-year rule was cited. It received 566 sexual harassment complaints in the same period. Anthony Omo, the GMC’s general counsel and director of fitness to practise, told the Observer: “We can and do waive the five-year rule where there are grave allegations involving sexual assault or rape. In many cases involving sexual allegations, the GMC’s position will be that such serious misconduct is incompatible with continued registration.” A government consultation in February heard that the five-year-rule was “arbitrary” and “a barrier to public protection” as it allowed doctors who may be guilty of inappropriate behaviour to continue practising. However, despite commitments from the Department of Health and Social Care to scrap the limitation as a “top priority”, no date has been set. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 30 September 2023
  25. Content Article
    In this article, Sharon Hartles highlights the high-profile legal battle involving numerous Primodos-affected claimants against pharmaceutical companies and the government. The court ruled against the claimants, dismissing their claims related to hormone pregnancy tests and foetal harm. This decision led to disappointment and criticism from advocates, MPs, and academics involved in the Primodos scandal. Sharon Hartles is affiliated with the Risky Hormones research project, which is an international collaboration in partnership with patient groups. Additionally, she is a member of the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative at the Open University. Related reading on the hub: Primodos 2023: The fight for justice continues for the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests Primodos, mesh and sodium valproate: Recommendations and the UK Government’s response Primodos: The next steps towards justice Patient Safety Spotlight interview with Marie Lyon, chair of the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests
×
×
  • Create New...