• Credible medical expert witnesses: the role, knowledge and legal obligations

    Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Providing expert evidence in any legal proceeding is a professional privilege. Doctors can play an important role as expert witnesses in helping courts, tribunals or other dispute resolution processes make informed, fair decisions on cases involving clinical issues. A shortage of good expert witnesses means doctors who are able to provide impartial and credible expert […]

  • Expert Witness – A Cautionary Tale

    Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Stick to Your Expertise and Understand Your Duties An Expert is Criticised by the Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal judgment in R v Pabon is a cautionary tale for experts. In this case the Court of Appeal was highly critical of an expert’s conduct in a criminal trial[1]. Medical experts might look at […]

  • Witness Evidence: Is It Just One Person’s Word Against Another’s? by Paul Sankey, Parter at Enable Law

    Thursday, April 26th, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Witness Evidence: Is It Just One Person’s Word Against Another’s? Where there is a dispute of facts, people often think it is just one person’s word against another’s. In reality, most of the time it is not. Clinical negligence cases do not normally depend on what witnesses of fact say. Expert evidence is usually more […]

  • Medical Manslaughter by Christian Beadell, Senior Solicitor at Fletchers Solicitors

    Tuesday, April 10th, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    On 6 February 2018 Jeremy Hunt announce a rapid review into the application of the offence of Gross Negligence Manslaughter (GNM) to healthcare professionals. This flowed from the general outcry into the conviction of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba a specialist registrar into the 6th year of her postgraduate training, who was held to be responsible for […]

  • Expert Witness Training: News

    Wednesday, February 28th, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Inspire MediLaw has had a busy start to the year holding two Expert Witness Training courses in Oxford and Edinburgh. We have been very lucky to have two excellent groups of medical professionals who have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to network with like minded peers whilst training.  The range of expertise has been fantastic from […]

  • Spinal Surgery and Lack of Informed Consent

    Wednesday, February 28th, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Tracy Hassell v Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2018] EHWC 164 (QB) The nature of doctors’ duties in advising and obtaining consent to medical treatment changed with the Supreme Court’s decision in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11. Since then there has been a succession of cases. Alongside obstetrics, spinal surgery has been […]

  • Scapegoating an individual for system problems?

    Tuesday, January 30th, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Scapegoating an individual for system problems? Our legal director, Lisa Nabou, comments on the case of Dr Bawa-Garba. Lisa states ‘ We all make mistakes. Is this the price to pay for doctors? Morale is low, fear factor is high, off the scale now. Is removal from the medical register,  imposing a serious criminal conviction, destroying […]

  • Is Consent to Treatment Valid? The Role of the Medical Expert by Paul Sankey, Partner at Enable Law

    Friday, January 19th, 2018 posted in Inspire News

    Is Consent to Treatment Valid? The Role of the Medical Expert Has a patient given valid consent to treatment? What is the medical expert’s role in reporting on the issue following the Supreme Court’s decision in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board in 2015? Consent to Medical Treatment: The Law Before Montgomery, the Bolam test applied […]

  • Medical Care and the Duty to Advise by Paul Sankey, Partner at Enable Law

    Wednesday, December 20th, 2017 posted in Inspire News

    Medical Care and the Duty to Advise Raul Guiu Gallardo v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust[1] The Supreme Court in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board changed the law in relation to a doctor’s duty to advise patients[2]. It substituted a patient-centred test for a doctor-centred one. The adequacy of advice is no longer measured by […]

  • Employment Law weekly update: 15 December 2017

    Monday, December 18th, 2017 posted in Inspire News

    It’s the final update of 2017 and as The Last Jedi is out today, I’ve given the update a Star Wars theme, with gifs in the “Employment Law in the News” and gags in the “Caselaw” so if you’re one of that lot who only read the jokes at the end, you’ll miss out on extra hilarity. Serves you […]