Healthcare - December 2011
Forthcoming events
The Healthcare Seminar Series returns in the
New Year and we will be in touch shortly with dates for our: Annual
Health Update; Healthcare Employment Law Update and Professional
Discipline & Regulatory Update.
Featured articles
Lutton v GDC
In the case of Lutton v
GDC the Scottish Appeal court has recently considered the extent of
the reasons a regulatory committee is required to give when making
a decision ‘on the papers’ i.e. without hearing live
testimony.
Cheshire West & Chester Council v P (2011) EWCA Civ
1257 – no deprivation of liberty
The Court of Appeal has
ruled that restrictive measures used by a care home to deal with
the behaviour of a man lacking capacity and with significant
physical and learning difficulties did not amount to a deprivation
of his liberty under article 5 of the European Convention on Human
Rights 1950.
RK v BCC & Others – more on DOLs but this time in the
context of children accommodated under section 20 of the Children
Act 1989
On 30 November 2011, the Court of Appeal
handed down judgment in the case of RK, a minor accommodated under
section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (“CA”).
Withdrawal of ANH: Minimally Conscious State
The Court has recently
handed down judgement in the case of W v (1) M, (2) S, (3) A NHS
Trust [2011] EWHC 2443 involving M; a woman in a minimally
conscious state (MCS). The application for withdrawal of
Artificial Nutrition and Hydration (ANH) was brought by M’s
mother.
NHS refunds £117,000 in wrongly paid care home costs
The family of an 88
year old former nurse have received a refund of £117,000 in respect
of care home fees that the NHS admitted they should not have had to
pay, following an eight year fight by the family.
Complaints regulations and access to records
The Court of Appeal has recently examined
the extent of the responsibility upon an NHS Trust to investigate a
complaint where consent to access medical records relevant to the
complaint is denied. In the recent case of R (on the
application of TA) v North East London NHS [2011], the
Appellant was appealing an earlier refusal to grant him permission
to apply for judicial review. The Trust’s decision not to
investigate his complaint was challenged as unlawful.
Implementation of the DoH guidance on the future ownership and
management of the PCT estate
The Guidance from the
DoH set out a timetable for the transfer of the PCT Estate to
Aspirant Community Foundation Trusts, other NHS Trusts and
Foundation Trusts (‘Acquiring Trusts’).
Key facts and trends in mental health
This is a commentary
upon a factsheet produced by the Mental Health Network (MHN)
comparing their findings in 2011 with those in 2009. We note
the implications of the findings upon both the delivery of care and
wider legal aspects.
Good Medical Practice Consultation
A major consultation on
“Good Medical Practice”, the central document setting out the
medical profession’s principles and values was launched by the
General Medical Council on 31 October 2011.
Rule 43 summary
Inquests – Lessons
learned? - Rule 43 (R43) of the Coroner’s Rules 1984 (as amended)
provides that Coroners may issue reports to any organisation if
evidence during the course of an inquest gives rise to a concern
that action should be taken to prevent future deaths.
A basic guide to disclosure
Part 31 of the Civil
Procedure Rules 1998 (“CPR”) deals with disclosure and inspection
of documents. What are you obliged to disclose? - Standard
disclosure requires you to disclose the documents on which you rely
and any documents that adversely affect your own case or support
the other party’s case (CPR 31.6).
State of Care: 2010/2011
CQC has recently
published its “State of Care” Report on the state of health and
social care including an overview of key themes in
2010/2011.
Delay and interim orders in regulatory proceedings
Two recent decisions
provide an insight into the High Court’s consideration of ‘delay’
in the context of applications by healthcare regulators to extend
interim orders imposed on practitioners’ registration.
Royal Brompton Hospital quashes consultation on children’s
heart surgery
The High Court has
quashed a national consultation exercise on the provision of
paediatric congenital cardiac services (PCCS) in England, following
a claim for judicial review brought by the Royal Brompton &
Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (RBH) against the Joint Committee of
Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT), on the basis of a breach of legitimate
expectation relating to the scoring of the hospitals
involved.
Healthcare tourism
There has been much
recent press comment regarding “Health Tourism”, the name used to
describe the process whereby non-UK residents visit the UK solely
to receive care under the NHS. The issues are whether such
‘tourists’ should be charged for the care that they receive, and
how the NHS can recover its charges if no payment is received
‘upfront’. There are no firm figures on the unrecovered cost to the
NHS, but the suggestion is that something between £7-10 million is
written off each year.
This update does not attempt to provide a full analysis of those
matters with which it deals and is provided for general information
purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice and
should not be treated as a substitute for legal advice. Weightmans
LLP accepts no responsibility for any loss that may arise from
reliance on the information in this update. The copyright in this
update is owned by Weightmans.