04/02/2025
Bevan Brittan provides high quality, comprehensive advice to the NHS, independent healthcare sector and local authorities. This update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in health and social care work, both in the NHS, independent sector and local authorities which have been published in the last month.
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Bevan Brittan Free Training Events
There is no charge for any of the events listed below
Webinars
These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions. You can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. Please contact Claire Bentley.
The Legal Framework for Clinical Decision-Making - Thursday 13 February at 12.30pm. Healthcare professionals are experts in assessing, diagnosis and treating healthcare conditions. Decision-making about treatment is multi-faceted – there are roles (and responsibilities) for the healthcare professionals and for the patient. How do healthcare professionals use their experience and expertise to decide clinically, what treatment to offer to the patient? From the offer, how is a decision taken as to which treatment will be provided? Join us for this session with Parishil Patel KC from 39 Essex Chambers.
The Darzi Review - Horizon Scanning for Primary Care and Maternity Services - Tuesday 25th February at 12.30pm. Anna Davies will be looking at key themes from the Darzi review and the potential impact on the future of primary care and maternity services
Deputyships and Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property and Affairs - Thursday 13 March at 12.30pm. Join us for this session with Matthew Wyard from 3PB who will consider a variety of matters relating to deputyship and lasting powers of attorney for property and affairs.
Medico-Legal Issues in Ophthalmology - Tuesday 25 March at 12.30pm. In this session Mr Amar Alwitry will be discussing medico-legal issues in cataract and refractive surgery.
Please note that registration for each webinar will close one hour before the webinar starts, so please do ensure you have booked your place in advance to guarantee attendance.
Acute and emergency care
Publications and Guidance
Association between time spent in emergency care and 30-day post-discharge mortality, England: March 2021 to April 2022. Relationship between time spent in A&E and the odds of 30-day, post-discharge, all-cause mortality, controlling for other factors.
Our urgent and emergency care improvement proposals. A joint statement on reform from: the Patients Association, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Royal College of General Practitioners, College of Paramedics, National Association of Primary Care, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives.
Emergency preparedness, resilience and response concept of operations. This guidance sets out the UK Health Security Agency’s approach to systematically preparing for, responding to and recovering from health security incidents. These include: infectious diseases; pandemics; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear events; extreme adverse weather events; business continuity challenges; and cyber security events.
How does access to NHS dentistry compare across areas in England? Access to NHS dentistry is uneven across England. Areas with lower provision have a higher number of people going to A&E with dental problems.
News
Emergency Departments ‘too crowded’ to cope with a disaster
Ambulance handover delays hit record high
Bevan Brittan Updates
Bed Blocking, Possession Orders and Discharge Planning: Guidance from the Court - Shiva Krishnan
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around acute and emergency issues please contact Claire Bentley.
Children and young people
Publications/Guidance
Child mental health. UCL has published new research into child admissions to medical wards for mental health concerns in England. Researchers examined data on admissions of 5- to 18-year-olds to medical wards in England from 2012 to 2022 and found: annual acute admissions for mental health concerns increased by 65% over a 10-year period; mental health concerns in females aged 11–15 years now make up nearly a third of all admissions in this age group; and children and young people admitted with mental health concerns are also staying longer in hospital.
Multi-agency working and information sharing. NSPCC Learning has published a suite of resources exploring how safeguarding professionals can successfully work together and share information within and between agencies. The resources include: an evidence snapshot summarising findings from research published between 2014 and 2023 about multi-agency working and information sharing in children’s social work; a series of practice points designed to help social workers focus on the actions that support good multi-agency working and information sharing; and three expert insight films. The resources highlight the importance of multi-agency working and information sharing in achieving the best outcomes for children and their families.
CHM's report on proposed changes to the availability of puberty blockers. Independent report by the Commission on Human Medicines on the safety implications of a proposal to restrict the availability of puberty blockers for under 18s.
CHM report into the safety implications of proposed puberty blockers legislation: factsheet. Factsheet providing more information on the Commission on Human Medicines’ independent report on the safety implications of proposed puberty blocker legislation.
ADCS safeguarding pressures research – phase 9. This research highlights changes in safeguarding activity which have not previously been seen, or not previously seen to this extent. One of the key themes was health challenges, from the impact of delayed access to assessment or treatment plans for parents and carers (particularly for alcohol and substance misuse), to growing concerns about poor mental health among adolescents. The research finds that, for the first time, poor parental mental health has overtaken domestic abuse as the most common factor in children’s social care assessments. It also uncovers concerns around poor-quality housing and the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Safeguarding pressures. The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has published the latest report in its safeguarding pressures series looking at changes in demand for, and the provision of, children’s social care services in England.
Child sexual abuse. NSPCC Learning has updated its statistics briefing on child sexual abuse in the UK. This briefing looks at data and statistics about child sexual abuse to help professionals, and the organisations they work for, make evidence-based decisions.
Child sexual abuse and exploitation. The Home Office has published a statement made by the Home Secretary to Parliament outlining the Government’s commitment to tackling grooming and child sexual abuse. The statement discusses recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and commits to setting up a victims and survivors panel to help shape new proposals and plans on child sexual abuse and exploitation. It confirms that the Government will act on three key IICSA recommendations: making it an offence to fail to report or to cover up child sexual abuse, with professional and criminal sanctions; legislating to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences; and making reforms related to the information and evidence gathered on child sexual abuse and exploitation, including a new performance framework for policing.
News
The 20 child abuse inquiry proposals - what has happened so far? The BBC has published a news story exploring the 20 recommendations that were set out by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in October 2022. The Inquiry investigated abuse in churches, schools, custodial institutions and other settings. Proposals included: a mandatory duty for people working with children to report child abuse; improvements to data collection, analysis and use; the creation of Child Protection Authorities for England and Wales; and calls for platform providers to pre-screen material for child sexual abuse images. The Government says it is committed to all the recommendations.
Record numbers of children in England jailed many miles from their families. An investigation carried out by the Guardian found that more than 1 in 10 young people in custody are held at least 75 miles from their home.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – key education issues for local authorities - Amrita Hurst and Callum Scott
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around children please contact Deborah Jeremiah.
Clinical Risk / Patient Safety
Publications/Guidance
Independent investigation into the care and treatment provided to VC January 2025. The aim of this investigation was to thoroughly review the NHS care and treatment provided to Valdo Calocane by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust prior to the tragic events of 13 June 2023, and the interactions the NHS had with other agencies involved in his care. See NHS England News
NHS complaints in England. Making complaints about NHS care and treatment in England.
A pain to complain: why it’s time to fix the NHS complaints process. Written complaints in the NHS reached a record high in 2024. This report finds that low public confidence is preventing people from taking any action after experiencing poor care, meaning that current complaints numbers could just be the tip of the iceberg. There is also little evidence that complaints are being systematically used to improve care. The report states that action is needed to: make the complaints process easier for patients and their families to navigate; monitor and improve the performance of organisations that handle complaints; and develop a culture of listening to and learning from complaints.
Government response to the House of Lords inquiry into preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives. This document details the government's response to the recommendations made by the House of Lords report, Preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives, and sets out the improvements the government is making to ensure that every family and baby receives the care that they deserve.
On the frontline of the UK's corridor care crisis. The RCN asked members to respond to a short survey at the end of December. Thousands of nursing staff responded, confirming corridor care is widespread across the UK.
Expert Panel: Evaluation on meeting patient safety recommendations: Government Response - Second Special Report of Session 2024-25. A Health and Social Care Committee report sets out the Government's response to its report which considered the Government's progress on meeting patient safety recommendations. In its response, the Government: discusses the death certification reforms made in 2024, including the introduction of a statutory system of medical examiners; references the findings of a review of the Care Quality Commission's operational effectiveness by Dr Penny Dash and the two further reviews she will conduct with a focus on patient safety and quality; and highlights the November 2024 consultation on options to bring NHS manager into regulation.
Maternal mortality 2021-2023. The latest set of data presented by the MBRRACE-UK Collaboration investigation into maternal deaths.
Ogden tables: actuarial compensation tables for injury and death. The Government Actuary’s Department has published an update to the Ogden Tables, specifically revising the Additional Tables to include multipliers at +0.5%. This updated eighth edition of the Ogden Tables and the revised Additional Tables provides current data for calculating lump sum compensation in personal injury and fatal accident cases.
Non-responses to Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports. The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CATJ) has published a comprehensive report detailing non-responses to Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports for the period of 1 January to 13 December 2024. This document lists cases where organisations, including government departments, NHS trusts and local authorities, have failed to respond to PFD reports by their due dates. The report provides specific details for each case, such as the deceased's name, date of report, coroner information and the entity responsible for responding. This initiative appears to be aimed at improving accountability and ensuring timely responses to these critical reports, which are designed to prevent similar deaths in the future. The publication of this information may serve to prompt action from the listed organisations and enhance the effectiveness of the PFD reporting system.
Reforming elective care for patients. This plan sets out how the NHS will reform elective care services and meet the 18 week referral to treatment standard by March 2029. Under this plan elective care will be increasingly personalised and digital, with a focus on improving experience and convenience, and empowering people with choice and control over when and where they will be treated.
Cases
Lochrie v Edwards [2025] the court found that the defendant's consent process as a whole was sufficient to inform the claimant of the material risks of LASIK laser eye surgery and that the defendant was not negligent in failing to identify the claimant as a high-risk patient requiring modification of the consent discussion. See update by Elena Goodfellow - All eyes on consent: laser focus on materiality
Richards v Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust. [2024] EWHC 3384. A hospital trust defending a medical negligence claim was granted an extension of time to serve a notice of intention to rely on hearsay evidence after it discovered that the doctor involved in the case was suffering seizures which could cause him confusion and cognitive slowing afterwards. The claimant was granted an order for the doctor to attend the trial for cross-examination as it had not been demonstrated that it would be impossible for him to answer questions.
News
Joint letter to the Health Secretary on corridor care, Royal College of Nursing, 12 January 2025
‘We are failing women who have their newborn babies removed: that needs to change’
The RCOG welcomes government response to House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee report
Bevan Brittan Updates
Chronic Pain Syndrome following DVT – Coincidence or Causation? - Pearl Mullen
National State of Patient Safety 2024 - Joanna Lloyd and Claire Bentley
All eyes on consent: laser focus on materiality - Elena Goodfellow
Bevan Brittan Events
The Legal Framework for Clinical Decision-Making - Thursday 13 February at 12.30pm. Healthcare professionals are experts in assessing, diagnosis and treating healthcare conditions. Decision-making about treatment is multi-faceted – there are roles (and responsibilities) for the healthcare professionals and for the patient. How do healthcare professionals use their experience and expertise to decide clinically, what treatment to offer to the patient? From the offer, how is a decision taken as to which treatment will be provided? Join us for this session with Parishil Patel KC from 39 Essex Chambers.
The Darzi Review - Horizon Scanning for Primary Care and Maternity Services - Tuesday 25th February at 12.30pm. Anna Davies will be looking at key themes from the Darzi review and the potential impact on the future of primary care and maternity services
Deputyships and Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property and Affairs - Thursday 13 March at 12.30pm. Join us for this session with Matthew Wyard from 3PB who will consider a variety of matters relating to deputyship and lasting powers of attorney for property and affairs.
Medico-Legal Issues in Ophthalmology - Tuesday 25 March at 12.30pm. In this session Mr Amar Alwitry will be discussing medico-legal issues in cataract and refractive surgery.
How we can help
We are working with clients on formulating policies and making it easier to balance treatment with finite resources. We are helping with social care policies and day to day activities such as contact and isolation, human rights issues and life/death decisions. We are working on notifications of harm and death, RIDDOR, CQC compliance, judicial review, infection control law and grappling with the new regulations and guidance. For more information click here.
If you wish to discuss any clinical risk or patient safety issues please contact Joanne Easterbrook or Daniel Morris.
Digital Health
Publications/guidance
Reforming elective care for patients. This plan sets out how the NHS will reform elective care services and meet the 18-week referral to treatment standard by March 2029. The aim is that elective care will be increasingly personalised and digital, with a focus on improving experience and convenience, and empowering people with choice and control over when and where they will be treated.
Can NHS digitalisation improve women's health? Women’s health has long been overlooked and neglected. Could digitalisation help improve this situation?
Artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmacy. This policy document outlines how AI can be used to support pharmacy practice and improve patient care. Developed in consultation with RPS members, expert advisory group members, board members, multi-professional experts in digital technology and AI, and external stakeholders (including the General Pharmaceutical Council), the policy highlights the challenges and opportunities AI presents to enhance patient access, support clinical decisions, and improve the safety and efficiency of medicines supply chains.
Public support for NHS digital transformation. This analysis focuses on polling data commissioned by the Tony Blair Institute and conducted by Deltapoll, which explored public opinion on digital transformation in the NHS. It found that 60% of the public supported patients being able to choose where they are referred for treatment, and three-quarters would welcome the use of their digitised and anonymised health records by the NHS if it provided faster, safer and more efficient care as a benefit.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around Digital Health please contact Daniel Morris.
Employment/HR
Publications/guidance
In the balance: lessons for changing the mix of professions in NHS services. The NHS workforce has gone through shifts and rebalances of roles since the service began, driven by changing needs as much as financial constraints and staff shortages. In recent years there has been a rebalancing through expanding roles like nursing associates, advanced practitioners, physician associates and clinical pharmacists, and further growth of these roles is planned. This report, commissioned by NHS Employers, reviews the evidence around introducing these new roles and offers a set of lessons for how emerging roles could be better implemented and integrated.
Independent review of physician and anaesthesia associates: areas to be covered. A Department of Health and Social Care report sets out how the independent review of the physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) professions will address the terms it has been set and how it will seek to gather the evidence needed to do this. It explains how the safety and effectiveness of the PA and AA roles will be evaluated and discusses how factors that may improve safety and effectiveness will be assessed. It states that the evidence-gathering phase of the review will conclude by the end of February 2025 and that the Government has committed to publish a refreshed workforce plan in summer 2025, together with government policy. "Independent review of physician and anaesthesia associates: terms of reference", guidance published in November 2020, sets out the terms of reference for the review which is led by Professor Gillian Leng.
How we can help
We can offer support and advice on managing many workforce issues including flexing your workforce to respond to the pandemic, managing bank staff, redeployment, vulnerable groups, sick pay, leave options, supporting staff well-being, presenteeism, remote and home working, through FAQs, helpline or policy guidance and practical day to day advice.
If you wish to discuss any employment issues generally please contact Jodie Sinclair, Alastair Currie, Oonagh Sharma, James Gutteridge or Andrew Uttley.
Health Inequalities
Publications/Guidance
Building health equity: the role of the property sector in improving health. This review explains how the twin crises of health and housing can be tackled together, by promoting health equity. It lays out a way forward to enable the property sector and national and local governments to work in partnership, and put health equity, wellbeing and environmental sustainability at the heart of how the UK builds homes and shapes neighbourhoods.
Tackling inequalities in care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. People with learning disabilities and autistic people continue to experience unacceptably poor health outcomes in comparison to the rest of the population, leading to lower life expectancy and a higher number of avoidable deaths. This guidance aims to close the gap in skills and knowledge across the adult health and social care workforce. It gives commissioners and practitioners the practical steps, confidence, and legislative awareness needed to improve experiences of care and support for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
Ageing in the fast and slow lane: examining geographic gaps in ageing. Like most countries, the UK is ageing. Over the past five decades, its median age has risen from 34 to 41. This deep demographic trend has all sorts of implications for public policy, not least the need to find greater resources to provide care for a growing elderly population. What is less well appreciated is that this ageing is playing out differently in different parts of the country – both in terms of the age profile of different places, but also the rate at which places are ageing. This report explores these trends and draws out some implications for local public services.
Bridging the gap: a guide to making health inequalities a strategic priority for NHS leaders. This guidance provides actionable steps for tackling health inequity within health care delivery, emphasising the role that clinicians and clinical leaders can play in addressing these longstanding disparities. It argues that tackling these disparities is essential to improving the nation’s health and reducing unnecessary pressures on health care services. It underscores that NHS leaders have a statutory, moral and financial responsibility to prioritise this issue, and includes: practical actions; existing statutory duties and guidance; and barriers and enablers.
News
What NHS leaders can do about health inequity
How we can help
We have a multidisciplinary team advising NHS commissioners and providers on all aspects of tackling health inequalities, ranging from:
- advising on the new legal framework and compliance with the relevant statutory duties, particularly in the context of service reconfiguration;
- addressing workforce inequalities;
- taking action on patient safety to reduce health inequalities;
- the role of the Care Quality Commission in tackling health inequalities; and
- lessons to be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around health inequalities please contact Julia Jones.
Housing
Publications/Guidance
Building health equity: the role of the property sector in improving health. This review explains how the twin crises of health and housing can be tackled together, by promoting health equity. It lays out a way forward to enable the property sector and national and local governments to work in partnership and put health equity, wellbeing and environmental sustainability at the heart of how the UK builds homes and shapes neighbourhoods.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Homelessness and Health: A Window of Opportunity for All - Jane Bennett
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around housing please contact Julia Jones or George Riach
Independent Health
News
Deal between NHS and independent sector to cut NHS waiting lists. New agreement struck between NHS and independent sector to help tackle waiting lists and give patients greater choice.
How we can help
For more information on issues around independent health, please contact Tim Hodgetts or Julie Charlton
Information sharing/data
Publications/guidance
Multi-agency working and information sharing. NSPCC Learning has published a suite of resources exploring how safeguarding professionals can successfully work together and share information within and between agencies. The resources include: an evidence snapshot summarising findings from research published between 2014 and 2023 about multi-agency working and information sharing in children’s social work; a series of practice points designed to help social workers focus on the actions that support good multi-agency working and information sharing; and three expert insight films. The resources highlight the importance of multi-agency working and information sharing in achieving the best outcomes for children and their families.
News
The NHS is holding the economy back by failing to share its data
Bevan Brittan Updates
Subject access requests in the courts - what do organisations need to know? - Vicki Bowles
How we can help
Our specialist team brings a unique combination of experience and skill from across the health, social care, and local authority sectors to help you meet the wide ranging challenges faced organisationally as you deal with the various and complex legislation in respect of information law. That team understands the practical way those legal frameworks impact the range of issues faced, as well as the diverse nature of both public and regulatory expectation in relation to “personal data”, “data protection”, “freedom of information”, “access to health records” and wider “information governance”. As well as assisting your organisation in dealing with challenging requests for disclosure, we can also help to provide strategic advice in relation to policy and information security, as well as bespoke organisational training on key legal issues.
Our specialist team brings a unique combination of experience and skill from across the health, social care, and local authority sectors to help you meet the wide ranging challenges faced organisationally as you deal with the various and complex legislation in respect of information law. That team understands the practical way those legal frameworks impact the range of issues faced, as well as the diverse nature of both public and regulatory expectation in relation to “personal data”, “data protection”, “freedom of information”, “access to health records” and wider “information governance”. As well as assisting your organisation in dealing with challenging requests for disclosure, we can also help to provide strategic advice in relation to policy and information security, as well as bespoke organisational training on key legal issues.
If you wish to discuss any information law and / or governance issues facing your organisation, and how we may help, please contact Jane Bennett.
Inquests
Publications/Guidance
Chief Coroner’s Guidance for Coroners on the Bench. This has been produced as a resource for coroners to help them locate key principles, practical information and precedents when dealing with inquests. It is not legally binding and does not replace the need for coroners to conduct their own legal research. It holds the same status as the Chief Coroner’s existing guidance notes and law sheets, and has been issued to promote consistency and encourage best practice.
CATJ publishes report on outstanding Prevention of Future Death responses. The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CATJ) has published a comprehensive report detailing non-responses to Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports for the period of 1 January to 13 December 2024. This document lists cases where organisations, including government departments, NHS trusts and local authorities, have failed to respond to PFD reports by their due dates. The report provides specific details for each case, such as the deceased's name, date of report, coroner information and the entity responsible for responding. This initiative appears to be aimed at improving accountability and ensuring timely responses to these critical reports, which are designed to prevent similar deaths in the future. The publication of this information may serve to prompt action from the listed organisations and enhance the effectiveness of the PFD reporting system.
Bevan Brittan Update
Chief Coroner’s Guidance for Coroners on the Bench - Claire Leonard and Claire Bentley
Non-responses to Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) reports - Sam Minchin
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around inquests, please contact Amanda Wright- Kluger, Tracey Longfield or Claire Leonard.
Integrated Care
Publications/Guidance
Annual assessment of integrated care boards 2023/24. This report is a summary of the assessment of each integrated care board, covering how effectively they have led their local NHS system and their contribution to each of the four core purposes of an integrated care system. It summarises an assessment of performance during the 2023/24 financial year and reflects NHS England’s views relating to that period only.
Antimicrobial stewardship: self-assessment toolkit for integrated care boards. This toolkit is designed for integrated care board (ICB) antimicrobial resistance leads to use in self-assessments or peer reviews. It supports compliance with ICBs’ statutory duty under section 14Z34 of the NHS Act 2006 to continuously improve service quality, and can be used to inform antimicrobial stewardship assurance reporting as part of the Care Quality Commission's assessments of integrated care systems.
Are integrated care systems improving population health outcomes? This is the first in a four-part series exploring how integrated care systems are faring against their core purposes. This part delves into how systems are improving population health outcomes.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around integrated care, please contact Anna Davies.
Mental Health
Publications/Guidance
Child mental health. UCL has published new research into child admissions to medical wards for mental health concerns in England. Researchers examined data on admissions of 5- to 18-year-olds to medical wards in England from 2012 to 2022 and found: annual acute admissions for mental health concerns increased by 65% over a 10-year period; mental health concerns in females aged 11–15 years now make up nearly a third of all admissions in this age group; and children and young people admitted with mental health concerns are also staying longer in hospital.
Mental health services: the NHS trust perspective. This briefing provides an outline of mental health services in the NHS, the current levels of demand that NHS trusts are facing, and what trusts need in order to deliver a more proactive and co-ordinated community-based model of mental health care.
Practice Guidance in respect of transition of Matters from the National DoL list to the Court of Protection. The aim of this Practice Guidance is to ensure that the process around the transition of cases from the National DOL List (“NDL”) to the Court of Protection (either at its central registry or one of its seven regional hubs) is understood and managed effectively by judiciary and court staff. The Practice Guidance is based on the internal guidance used by judiciary and court staff with respect to such cases. This Practice Guidance covers cases where the child is 16 or 17 years old and a decision is taken that further consideration should be undertaken by the Court of Protection.
Suicide statistics. A summary of statistics on suicide in the UK from 1981 to 2023. Includes trends by gender, age, English region, and deprivation.
Care beyond beds: exploring alternatives to hospital-based mental health care. According to this report, an overhaul of mental health care is needed to achieve the government’s goal of shifting treatment from hospitals to communities. It finds that inpatient care is too often characterised by unsafe levels of bed occupancy, chronic staffing shortages and dilapidated facilities that risk re-traumatising patients. Black people, neurodivergent people and children are among the most poorly served. It concludes that the NHS 10-year plan must boost investment across the mental health system to drive a ‘safe and sustained shift’ towards community care, and to provide inpatient care that is high quality, close to home and adequately staffed.
Cases
JB v- Elysium Healthcare and Secretary of State for Justice (HM): [2025] UKUT 009 (AAC). This appeal is about the situation in which a tribunal reaches its decision based on a mistake of fact, and about whether medical treatment which is considered to be appropriate for a patient can properly be said to be “available” to him if the hospital in which he is detained has the resources to provide it but is not willing to do so.
IN -v- St Andrews Healthcare and others: [2024] UKUT 411 (AAC). This decision concerns a tribunal’s decision making around whether to adjourn or to proceed with a hearing from which both the patient and the patient’s appointed representative are absent, as well as what the tribunal must say in its reasons to clear the required hurdle of ‘adequacy’.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust & Anor v PQ [2024] EWCOP 73 (T3) - When dealing with potential issues about obstetric care the guidance of Keehan J in NHS Trust v FG [2014] EWCOP 30 should be scrupulously followed and timely applications need to be made in the context of birth arrangements.
JC v Cornwall Council & Ors [2024] EWCOP 75 (T2). Decision concerning JC's capacity to have sexual relations.
Aberdeenshire Council v SF & Anor (No. 3)(Change of Habitual Residence) [2024] EWCOP 74 (T3). Further ex tempore judgment concerning the habitual residence of SF
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council v EM & Ors [2024] EWCOP 76 (T2). Judgment concerning capacity, care planning and deprivation of liberty for EM an 18 year old girl with a diagnosis of ADHD and ASD.
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council v KZ & Ors [2024] EWCOP 72 (T3). Decision about KZ, a 20 year old deaf man, and his capacity to decide on residence and to refuse contact with his parents.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Bed Blocking, Possession Orders and Discharge Planning: Guidance from the Court - Shiva Krishnan
Bevan Brittan Events
The Legal Framework for Clinical Decision-Making - Thursday 13 February at 12.30pm. Healthcare professionals are experts in assessing, diagnosis and treating healthcare conditions. Decision-making about treatment is multi-faceted – there are roles (and responsibilities) for the healthcare professionals and for the patient. How do healthcare professionals use their experience and expertise to decide clinically, what treatment to offer to the patient? From the offer, how is a decision taken as to which treatment will be provided? Join us for this session with Parishil Patel KC from 39 Essex Chambers.
Deputyships and Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property and Affairs - Thursday 13 March at 12.30pm. Join us for this session with Matthew Wyard from 3PB who will consider a variety of matters relating to deputyship and lasting powers of attorney for property and affairs.
How we can help
We are experts in advising commissioners, providers and care co-ordinators on the relevant legal frameworks. We deal with complex issues such as deprivation of liberty, state involvement, use of CCTV monitoring, seclusion, physical restraint and covert medication. We can help providers with queries about admission and detention, consent to treatment, forensic service users, transfers, leave, discharge planning and hearings. We can advise commissioners on all matters concerning commissioning responsibility, liability and disputes. For more information click here
If you wish to discuss any mental health issues facing your organisation please contact Hannah Taylor or Simon Lindsay
Prison Health
Publications/Guidance
Improving maternity provision for incarcerated women in the UK. This article in the BMJ highlights gaps in clinical care for pregnant women in prison and consider how best to meet their needs
News
Record numbers of children in England jailed many miles from their families. An investigation carried out by the Guardian found that more than 1 in 10 young people in custody are held at least 75 miles from their home.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any issues in prison health then please contact Joanne Easterbrook.
Public Health
Publications/Guidance
AI sensors on fridges and kettles helping vulnerable people to live independently. Councils are leveraging AI and technology to enhance public services, save money, and improve living standards, aligning with government plans for £45 billion in efficiency savings under the Plan for Change.
Knife crime statistics England and Wales. Knife crime is a crime involving an object with a blade or sharp instrument. This briefing presents and analyses statistics on knife crime in England and Wales.
If you wish to discuss any issues in public health, then please contact Claire Bentley.
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
Sector pulse check: adult social care sector annual review 2024. This annual report, produced together with the learning disability charity Hft, analyses the finances and workforce of adult social care, providing a benchmark for the nature and scale of the challenges facing the sector. The research highlights how the current approach to adult social care funding is not working; the sector remains in a sustained crisis.
How we can help
For ways in which we can help with Social Care issues click here.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around social care please contact Siwan Griffiths.
General
Publications/Guidance
Registration of stillbirth. This Commons Library briefing paper deals with current registration provisions relating to stillbirths, consideration of whether the law should be changed, and the introduction of baby loss certificates.
The right to health: people with eating disorders are being failed. This report highlights the need for a national strategy to address the growing number of people being treated for eating disorders in the UK. Key findings reveal barriers to accessing treatment, including insufficient training for health care providers, fragmented care pathways, and a lack of standardised data for research. The report also emphasises the geographical variation in service provision and the practice of discharging patients at dangerously low BMIs.
Communicable disease outbreak management guidance: principles to support local health protection systems. This guidance and accompanying toolkits aim to provide information on principles for the identification and management of outbreaks, and resources to support local health protection system response to outbreaks of communicable disease.
Handbook to the NHS Constitution for England. The Health Act 2009 requires the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to carry out a review of the Handbook to the NHS Constitution for England every 3 years. The last review was carried out in January 2022. The handbook has now been updated to ensure that it reflects changes to the law, the healthcare system and the current supports available to NHS users.
Reforming elective care for patients. This new plan sets out how the NHS will reform elective care services and meet the 18-week referral to treatment standard by March 2029. Under the plan, elective care will be increasingly personalised and digital, with a focus on improving experience and convenience, and empowering people with choice and control over when and where they will be treated. The plan is accompanied by a letter addressed to leaders of integrated care boards outlining first steps and planning for 2025/26 to implement this plan.
Knives, offensive weapons and serious violence. Information on knife crime in England and Wales: possession offences, rules for retailers and efforts to prevent serious violence.
Weight loss medicines in England. A briefing on the licensing, regulation and supply of new weight loss medications in England.
The health and care outlook for 2025. Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King's Fund, takes a forward look at what we can expect in 2025 and considers the key issues that will shape the health and care landscape this year.
A portrait of modern Britain: health – the public's priorities for the NHS. This report, based on polling of 2,000 representative Britons in 2024, examines the perceptions of and priorities the British public have for the NHS. It found that the NHS providing services free at point of use was less of a priority to the public than ensuring access to a GP and treating major conditions. It also found that young and urban respondents are more open to major reforms to primary care, such as enabling direct access to secondary care. It makes several recommendations and looks at specific policy areas such as general practice, dentistry and mental health.
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: call for evidence. A Public Bill Committee call for evidence seeks views on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25, which will allow adults who have mental capacity, are terminally ill and are in the final six months of their life, to request assistance from a doctor to end their life. Written evidence to be submitted as soon as possible.
The health policy year in twelve charts 2024. Siva Anandaciva and Danielle Jefferies from The King's Fund look back on the health and care trends, key figures, news stories and policy changes that happened in 2024.
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