Healthcare

Advice and support for NHS trusts dealing with a wide range of healthcare issues, including litigation related to clinical negligence.

Allegations of clinical negligence are perhaps the most serious issues that NHS trusts have to deal with. Added to this are a variety of legal risks and responsibilities that require careful management on a continuous basis, often in the public eye.

The skills and experience of the legal team brought in to handle these matters are crucially important in this situation. While patient welfare is the number one priority, it is also essential to ensure fair treatment towards the authorities concerned and protect the reputations of clinicians and their employers wherever possible.

Weightmans' specialist Healthcare team covers all aspects of healthcare and related areas of law and practice, including child law, clinical negligence, clinical governance, consent to treatment, healthcare advisory and mental health.

We provide a supportive, proactive service based on a deep understanding of NHS procedures and the social/political background of public healthcare. Additional services include advising on Foundation Trust applications and risk management issues arising from data protection legislation and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Our expert team includes doctors and midwives among other health professionals, all with specialist medical knowledge in key areas. We frequently act in complex, high-profile cases and were closely involved in the 'Bristol Babies' case, a multi-party action involving paediatric cardiac surgery.  We recently won a tender to provide legal services to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for the next year.