Expert Comments

Opinion

Are some operations unnecessary?

A leading surgeon, Prof Andy Carr, of the respected Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences says that many types of surgery might be pointless. A recent study has...

June 13, 2017

Opinion

mental-health

Clinical Negligence and Human Rights

As a member of the clinical negligence team at HJA, part of my role includes helping to deal with new business enquiries. Many potential clients that I have spoken to...

June 12, 2017

Shakti Bhagwansingh

Blog

gp-negligence

When does a doctor owe a duty of care to a non-patient?

It is a commonly held principle that a doctor owes a duty of care to their patients. Much more controversial is whether a doctor can owe a duty of care...

June 2, 2017

Emma Wray

Opinion

Communication in Doctor-Patient Relationships

It is an understood fact that science is based on evidence. When you go to see your doctor, they will consider the history you give regarding the symptoms you are...

June 1, 2017

Opinion

Ian Paterson sentenced to 15 years prison

Rogue surgeon Ian Paterson was today jailed for 15 years. Many of his ex-patients will be celebrating the news that his irresponsible actions over a period of many years have...

May 31, 2017

Opinion

The pressures and strains on our doctors

“I want to be able to spend time with each person, to make a diagnosis, not just a best guess” notes an anonymous writer under the title “What I’m really...

May 31, 2017

Priya Singh

Opinion

Royal College of Surgeons: Open letter on patient protection in the NHS and Private Healthcare Sector

The Royal College of Surgeons calls for urgent action to be taken to pursue ‘a culture of openness and transparency’ with an equal focus on patient safety in both the...

May 26, 2017

Opinion

Baby safety at risk due to lack of basic training on CTGs

The cardiotocography machine (‘CTG’) monitors fetal well-being and uterine contractions, and failure to correctly interpret and act on the CTG is often a central feature of clinical negligence claims involving...

May 24, 2017

Emma Wray

Blog

Police investigate Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

News has emerged in the past few days that Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is being investigated by Essex police regarding a deaths of a number of inpatients at...

May 23, 2017

Opinion

Preventing harm in healthcare

Ian Paterson, consultant breast surgeon, has been found guilty of seventeen counts of wounding with intent and 3 counts of unlawful wounding. Successful criminal prosecutions against health care professionals are...

May 5, 2017

Emma Wray

Opinion

Risky business: adverse events in healthcare

Every person who steps over the threshold of the hospital or doctor’s surgery has to accept that they are potentially at risk of harm. The surgeon’s instruments are sharp, medicines...

April 5, 2017

Emma Wray

Opinion

Tackling a deny, delay, defend culture

A NAO audit promises to shine a light on the NHSLA but will it come too late to influence the introduction of fixed fees, wonders Nina Ali For many years,...

March 14, 2017

Nina Ali

Blog

Good communication and costs savings in the NHS

On this morning’s Today programme Andrew McDonald, author of a Marie Curie report into NHS communication (The Long and Winding Road: Improving Communication with Patients in the NHS) invited NHS...

March 13, 2017

Emma Wray

Opinion

Doctor – patient consent: supported decision making

The landmark ruling by the UK Supreme Court in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] shifted the focus of the doctor-patient consent process away from a more paternalistic approach guided...

March 3, 2017

Abbie Roberts

Opinion

The NHS – our complex, underfunded service

Our National Health Service is often in the news, and usually, sadly it is not for positive reasons. It is a great national service, and yet the difficulties it faces...

February 23, 2017

Abbie Roberts

Opinion

Improvement needed at West London Mental Health NHS Trust

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today published its findings following an inspection of West London Mental Health NHS Trust in November 2016. It found that 9 out of the...

February 9, 2017

Agata Usewicz

Opinion

Promoting patient safety: NHS complaints and whistleblowers

The Health Select Committee’s recent inquiry into the handling of complaints from patients and the public, and concerns raised by staff, concludes that while patient safety and the treatment of...

February 3, 2017

Emma Wray

Opinion

More openness and honesty?

An article in the I reveals how the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) apparently spent almost a quarter of a million pounds redacting information about patient safety campaigner Mr James...

February 3, 2017

Emma Wray

Blog

Learning, candour and accountability – a report by the Care Quality Commission

A year after a review commissioned by NHS England uncovered failings at Southern Health Foundation Trust, the Care Quality Commission (‘CQC’) has looked into how acute, community and mental health...

December 13, 2016

Emma Wray

Blog

Duty of Candour fails again

News that an inquest into the death of a newborn baby has been adjourned after a midwife stated that evidence had been removed from her witness statement by an NHS...

November 18, 2016

Emma Wray