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Showing results for tags 'Legal issue'.
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Content ArticleThe recent Hughes Report outlined the options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh In this blog, AvMa's Chief Executive, Paul Whiteing, discusses the trade-off of redress schemes.
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Content ArticleThe use of AI in medical devices, patient screening and other areas of healthcare is increasing. This Medscape article looks at some of the risks associated with the use of AI in healthcare. It outlines the difficulties regulators face in monitoring adaptive systems, the inbuilt bias that can exist in algorithms and cybersecurity and liability issues.
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Content ArticleThe National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) awarded researchers from The Open University (OU), Manchester Metropolitan University, the Universities of Oxford, Glasgow and Edinburgh more than £141,000 to expand their world-first study of witnesses’ experience of giving evidence during health and social care workers’ professional conduct hearings. The project, Witness to harm, holding to account: Improving patient, family and colleague witnesses’ experiences of Fitness to Practise proceedings, mainly focuses on cases where there are allegations of harm. This focus should help regulators and employers identify potential improvements to support witnesses whose role in giving evidence is crucial to a fair hearing.
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Content ArticleWith two notable exceptions, the common law does not recognise one person as having any legally compensable interest in the physical well-being of another. The law compensates the victim but not others who suffer harm as a result of the victim’s injuries or death, however severely impacted and whether the harm is psychological, physical or financial. The exceptions are found in the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 and in claims by secondary victims. It was this latter category that came to be examined in the much anticipated judgment of the Supreme Court in the conjoined appeals of Paul and another (Appellants) v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (Respondent), Polmear and another (Appellants) v Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (Respondent) and Purchase (Appellant) v Ahmed (Respondent). This article from Bevan Brittan, explores this in greater depth.
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News Article
Irish medical negligence legal costs among highest in world, report says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Legal costs in Irish medical negligence cases are among the highest in the world, according to a report that says the slow pace of legal actions here is damaging patients and doctors’ mental wellbeing. The average cost of a legal claim for medical negligence in Ireland is almost three times higher than in the UK, and cases take over 50 per cent longer to resolve, the industry report says. Patients and doctors in Ireland are dragged through what can be a brutal process, for longer than necessary, with patients having to wait longer to receive compensation, the report by the Medical Protection Society (MPS) asserts. In the report, the society, which provides indemnity cover for 16,000 doctors and other healthcare professionals in Ireland, compared the length and cost of legal actions here with other jurisdictions in which it operates. A medical negligence claim in Ireland takes 1,462 days on average (four years), 14% longer than in South Africa and 56% longer than in Hong Kong, the UK or Singapore, it found. Two hundred doctors in Ireland were interviewed for the report: 88% said they were worried about the length of time the litigation process was taking and 91% were worried about their mental wellbeing while it was ongoing. Some said they needed professional help, experienced suicidal thoughts, or quit medicine as a result of the claim. “It was horrendous. I had to leave medicine after it,” says one doctor involved in a claim who is quoted in the report. “I developed severe anxiety during the course of the claim and PTSD. I lost my career in medicine and I am devastated about that. I knew I could never go through the same again.” Read full story Source: The Irish Times, 31 January 2024 -
EventuntilKennedys' healthcare team are delighted to invite you to the second session of our annual healthcare seminar programme 2024, which will be held both in-person and virtually on Wednesday 28 February. Guest speaker: John Mead, Technical Claims Director, NHS Resolution John Mead studied at London University and then joined the insurance industry, where he dealt with a wide range of claims against local authorities, some of which reached the Court of Appeal and House of Lords. He moved to NHS Resolution in 1999 and has led the Technical Claims Unit since its creation in 2000, in which he is responsible for overseeing large, complex and potentially repercussive claims against NHS bodies and other scheme members. John is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and an accredited mediator. He is an editor for the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, and has contributed to a number of books, most recently Lessons from Medico-Legal Cases in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2022). This session will be chaired by Kennedys' Partner and Global Head of Healthcare Christopher Malla. Register
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Content ArticleHundreds of doctors - led by campaign group Long Covid Doctors for Action - are planning to sue the NHS over claims that inadequate PPE provision has left them with Long Covid. One of those, Dr Nathalie MacDermott, joins Women's Health host Emma Barnett to discuss it. Listen from 2:40
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News ArticleA group of doctors with Long Covid are preparing to launch a class action for compensation after contracting SARS-CoV-2 at work. The campaign and advocacy group Long Covid Doctors for Action (LCD4A) has engaged the law firm Bond Turner to bring claims for any physical injuries and financial losses sustained by frontline workers who were not properly protected at work. On 25 January Bond Turner, which specialises in negligence cases, complex litigation, and group actions, launched a call to action inviting doctors and other healthcare workers in England and Wales to make contact if they believe that they contracted covid-19 as a result of occupational exposure.1 Sara Stanger, the firm’s director and head of clinical negligence and serious injury claims, said that the ultimate aim was to achieve “legal accountability and justice for those injured.” She told The BMJ, “I’ve spoken to hundreds of doctors with long covid, and many of them have had their lives derailed. Some have lost their jobs and their homes; they are in financial ruin. Their illnesses have had far reaching consequences in all areas of their lives.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 25 January 2024 Nurses, midwives, and any other healthcare workers who are suffering with Long Covid and which they believe they contracted through their work and who wish to join the action should visit the Bond Turner website here: https://www.bondturner.com/services/covid-group-claim/. Although this action has been initiated by doctors in the first instance, it is not limited to doctors. Further reading on the hub: Questions around Government governance My experience of suspected 'Long COVID' How will NHS staff with Long Covid be supported?
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News Article
Long Covid: NHS legal action launched by family of girl
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The mother of an 11-year-old Aberdeenshire girl with Long Covid has launched a legal action against their health board, in what lawyers claim is the first case of its kind in Scotland. Helen Goss, from Westhill, is seeking damages from NHS Grampian on behalf of her daughter, Anna Hendy. The action claims the health board is responsible for "multiple failings" in Anna's treatment and care. The claim alleges failings were avoidable, that they caused Anna "injury and damage", and led to her condition worsening. Anna became unwell after contracting Covid in 2020. The action alleges a number of failings by the health board. These include claims that requests for Anna to be referred to the specialist paediatric services of immunology and neurology were refused. It also claims no further help was offered after Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). And it says these failings "could have been avoided had NHS Grampian followed contemporary guidance on diagnosis and treatment". Read full story Source: BBC, 19 January 2024 -
News ArticleMylissa Farmer’s pregnancy was doomed. But no one would help her end it. Over the course of a few days in August 2022, Farmer visited two hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, where doctors agreed that because the 41-year-old’s water had broken just 18 weeks into her pregnancy, there was no chance that she would give birth to a healthy baby. Continuing the pregnancy could risk Farmer’s health and life – yet the doctors could not act. Weeks earlier, the US supreme court had overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to abortion. It was, legal counsel at one hospital determined, “too risky in this heated political environment to intervene”, according to legal filings. In immense pain and anguish, Farmer ultimately traveled several hours to Illinois, where abortion is legal. There, doctors were able to end her pregnancy. Farmer’s account is detailed in a legal complaint she filed against the hospitals, arguing that they broke a federal law that requires hospitals to treat patients in medical emergencies. In a first-of-its-kind investigation, the US government sided with Farmer and declared that the two hospitals had broken the law. The future of the government’s ability to invoke that law to protect women seeking emergency abortions is now in question. The law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (Emtala), is at the heart of the US supreme court’s latest blockbuster abortion case, which comes out of Idaho. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 January 2024
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Content ArticleThe Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 came into force on 2 July 1999. The Act protects workers who disclose information about malpractice at their workplace, or former workplace, provided certain conditions are met. The conditions concern the nature of the information disclosed and the person to whom it is disclosed. If these conditions are met, the Act protects the worker from suffering detriment or dismissal due to having made the disclosure. If the conditions are not met a disclosure may constitute a breach of the worker’s duty of confidence to his employer. This legal framework has received some criticism in recent years for failing to protect some whistleblowers and there have been a number of calls for reform. This research briefing produced by the House of Commons Library, titled Whistleblowing and gagging clauses, includes: Summary Background The duty of confidentiality The legal framework Evolution of the law Proposals for reform of whistleblowing law Whistleblowing in the NHS Gagging clauses Support and advice.
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Content ArticleJoanna Lloyd and Hannah Taylor from law form Bevan Brittan, are joined in conversation by Graeme Irvine, Senior Coroner for East London. In this session, Graeme considered how PSIRF may work with the coronial process. Access the video via the link below.
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Content ArticleThis document provides examples of how the justice system is failing mesh victims and why a Redress Agency is imperative.
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News ArticleUK organisations responsible for protecting the public from advertisements of prescription-only drugs are putting patients at risk from the harms of weight loss drugs by not enforcing the law, critics have told The BMJ. The UK’s Human Medicines Regulations 2012 prohibit the advertising of prescription drugs to the general public, and companies that break the rules can be sanctioned with fines, orders to issue a corrective statement, or prosecution. Legal responsibility for regulating advertisements for medicines in the UK rests with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on behalf of health ministers. But there is also a system of self-regulation with a number of organisations operating their own codes of practice, including the Advertising Standards Authority. But The BMJ has found that the MHRA has not issued a single sanction for prescription drugs in the past five years. And among 16 cases where the MHRA took action by requesting changes to advertisements for weight loss drugs from June 2022 to July 2023, all were triggered by external complaints, not internal mechanisms, and none resulted in sanctions. Read full story Source: The BMJ, 13 December 2023
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News Article
USA hospitals' latest PR concern: The Netflix documentary
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
After the $261 million verdict against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, health system public relations departments have a new concern: unwillingly becoming the subject of a streaming service documentary. Released on Netflix in June, "Take Care of Maya" tells the story of Maya Kowalski, whose family brought her to the St. Petersburg, Fla., hospital's emergency department in 2016 with chronic pain. After physicians suspected child abuse, the then-10-year-old was kept there apart from her loved ones for nearly three months, during which time her mother killed herself. Millions of viewers watched the documentary, which detailed the family's then-unsuccessful attempt to sue the hospital. In November, a Florida jury awarded the Kowalskis the nine-figure sum for damages on counts including medical negligence and false imprisonment. "The level of global exposure and awareness of this case helped drive the interest, engagement and discussions in the community," Karen Freberg, PhD, professor of strategic communication at University of Louisville (Ky.), told Becker's. "This is a situation where hospitals across the board must evaluate their crisis communication plans from this experience and see how they would address this situation if it happened to them." She said any reputation-fixing lessons for this case, then, will come not from hospitals that have lost big lawsuits, but from companies that have been the subject of unflattering documentaries. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 7 December 2023 -
News Article
Ministers lose infected blood vote after Tory MPs revolt
Patient_Safety_Learning posted a news article in News
MPs have backed a move to speed up compensation for victims of the NHS infected blood scandal, delivering the prime minister his first Commons defeat. Ministers will now have to set up a body to run the scheme within three months of a new bill becoming law. The vote was passed by 246 votes to 242 after 22 Conservatives rebelled. The Haemophilia Society said Rishi Sunak "should be ashamed" he had been forced "to do the right thing". Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 December 2023 -
News Article
GPs will not be nationally mandated to use advice and guidance, NHSE confirms
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There will be no national mandate for GPs to use advice and guidance in a certain number of cases, NHS England has told Pulse. National medical directors for primary and secondary care said that formalised pathways should be developed ‘locally’, and decisions should be based on an area’s population. In September, it was reported that NHS England’s upcoming outpatients strategy would further increase the use of advice and guidance (A&G) before GP referrals are accepted, with the RCGP then "voicing concerns" about this proposal. However, when asked about the reports that this would be mandated, Dr Stella Vig, national medical director for secondary care and clinical director for elective care, said she ‘doesn’t know’ where that came from, and ‘doesn’t recognise’ those comments. NHS England also released guidance clarifying the medico-legal risks and clinical responsibility for clinicians using A&G or referral assessment services (RAS), which is now available on the NHS Futures website. The guidance said that these forms of specialist advice are "expanding rapidly" as a result of improvements to digital services. On legal issues, it said liability ‘will be determined on a case by case basis’ but that GPs could be liable if "all relevant clinical information is not provided" when sending an A&G request. But specialists at hospitals would be accountable if they send back advice to the GP which is ‘not clinically appropriate’ or if they ‘refuse to accept a patient’. On turnaround times, NHS England has said that ‘local variables will ultimately dictate the agreed response times’ for hospital teams dealing with A&G – but the guidance recommends that the response time "should not exceed 10 working days for routine requests". Read full story Source: Pulse, 30 November 2023 -
EventLearn how the SIRO, CG and DPO should work together to ensure that organisational and technical measures are in place to protect the privacy of patient and service user data. Data Protection and Information Security measures and associated risk are considered risks mitigated where appropriate and reasonable. How legislation impacts on each of the roles. We will look at the roles and how they should work together and not in isolation. These 3 roles are referenced in the NHS Data Security & Protection Toolkit each having responsibility & accountability but there is synergy in the roles. These are important roles in assessing overall risks and issues of information sharing internally and externally. It will be beneficial for all three from an organisation to attend the course (although individual roles can attend) Register
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EventLearn how the SIRO, CG and DPO should work together to ensure that organisational and technical measures are in place to protect the privacy of patient and service user data. Data Protection and Information Security measures and associated risk are considered risks mitigated where appropriate and reasonable. How legislation impacts on each of the roles. We will look at the roles and how they should work together and not in isolation. These 3 roles are referenced in the NHS Data Security & Protection Toolkit each having responsibility & accountability but there is synergy in the roles. These are important roles in assessing overall risks and issues of information sharing internally and externally. It will be beneficial for all three from an organisation to attend the course (although individual roles can attend) Register
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Event
Deprivation of Liberty: Moving forward
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
The Department of Health and Social Care announced on the 5th April 2023 that the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards will be delayed until at least the next general election (anticipated to be in Autumn 2024). With the delay to the Liberty Protection Safeguards it is more important than ever to ensure the existing scheme of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) works, that providers understand the application of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and interaction with the Mental Capacity Act. It has been widely recognised that there are number of challenges associated with the current DoLS system, particularly in light of the increases in the number of DoLS applications – which have been seen across England and Wales. In light of the UK Government decision, we will need to consider how we strengthen the current DoLS system in order to continue to protect and promote the human rights of those people who lack mental capacity. For further information and to book your place visit: https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/virtual-online-courses/liberty-protection-safeguards-mca or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for discount code. Follow on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #LPS2024 -
News Article
NHS England faces lawsuit over patient privacy fears linked to new data platform
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
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 -
Content ArticleHow 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.
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News ArticleA 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
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EventuntilNHS 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
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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.
