24 April News These come into effect on 28th April 2025 Irish High Court introduces two new practice directions designed to streamline clinical negligence proceedings Clinical negligence, Ireland, 06. Rules and Regulations, Irish High Court, Practice Directions The aim of the new procedure is to ensure cases are properly pleaded before a trial date is assigned and to facilitate the earlier resolution of clinical negligence actions. This should in turn decrease legal costs.
28 January Case Updates Consent – post-Montgomery Clinical negligence, Dentistry, Consent, 06. Rules and Regulations Although this is a dental/maxillofacial negligence case, it is of importance for all healthcare experts instructed in cases where consent may be an issue. It highlights points about which experts should enquire when there may be an issue as to consent to a surgical or other procedure. In this case it was found that the consent process was deficient in a number of respects. It is also a case which illustrates how expert evidence can separately assist the court on the issues of breach of duty, causation, condition and prognosis. Winterbotham v Shahrak (Rev1) [2024] EWHC 2633 (KB)
13 September News NHS Resolution announces new Clinical Negligence Claims Agreement 2024 Clinical negligence, NHS Resolution, Clinical Negligence Claims Agreement 2024 NHS have announced the implementation of a new Clinical Negligence Claims Agreement for 2024. The agreement builds on the Covid-19 Clinical Negligence Protocol established in 2020 with the aim of improving claims management practices. Members who act in clinical negligence cases should note the new agreement, although it does not directly affect expert witnesses.
8 August Case Updates Shally v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 1304 (KB) Negligence, Clinical negligence, Neurosurgery, Costotransversectomy, 11. Report Writing “A negligent failure to perform a costotransversectomy?” The detail of this judgment will be of interest to neurosurgeons and spinal surgeons. However, particularly as the judgment quotes C v North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust [2014] Med. L.R. 189 which gives meaning to the adjectives ‘responsible’, ‘competent’ and ‘respectable’ in Bolitho, this is a useful judgment to have to hand when preparing a report in a case of alleged clinical negligence.
11 January Case Updates Morrison v Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 91 (QB), 2020 WL 00410775 Clinical negligence, 11. Report Writing Topic: Analysis of evidence The case: An obstetric negligence case in which there was an issue as to possible competing priorities on the ward on the night in question.
27 July Case Updates SC v University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Clinical negligence, 11. Report Writing Relevance: General Topics: Glossary Nature of case: Clinical negligence
27 July Case Updates Darrell Stewart Jones v Ministry of Defence [2020] EWHC 1603 (QB), 2020 WL 03415114 Causation, Clinical negligence, Life expectancy, HIV, Delayed diagnosis, 11. Report Writing, 07. Receiving Instructions, 15. Giving Oral Evidence, 10. Records Assessments and Site Visits Relevance: General Clinical negligence Topics: Life expectancy Delayed diagnosis HIV Causation