Medico Legal News, Issue 5

Fixed Costs in Clinical Negligence

An open letter from AvMA (action against medical accidents) and 8 other patients’ charities calling on the Secretary of State for Health to reconsider proposals on imposing fixed costs in clinical negligence was published in the Daily Telegraph in early May, coinciding with the close of the consultation on 2 May 2017.

The letter describes the proposals as 'premature; ill informed; and a threat both to access to justice and patient safety'.

For full details see the link: www.avma.org.uk
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Whistleblowing Doctor Wins Legal Battle in the Court of Appeal

Dr Kevin Beatt, consultant cardiologist, has successfully won his case against Croydon Health Services NHS Trust after he was sacked for raising safety concerns.

In his Court of Appeal judgment, Lord Justice Underhill said the NHS trust had classed Dr Beatt as 'a troublemaker' for raising genuine concerns.

He added: “It is all too easy for an employer to allow its view of a whistleblower as a difficult colleague or an awkward personality to cloud its judgement about whether the disclosures in question do in fact have a reasonable basis.”

Dr Beatt was unfairly dismissed in September 2012 and subjected to detriments by the Trust after he blew the whistle about patient safety after the death of a patient, following the suspension of a cardiology nurse in the middle of an operation. The Trust alleged that Dr Beatt's concerns about patient safety were made in bad faith and with an ulterior motive.

NHS Resolution are currently updating their whistleblowing policy: www.nhsla.com/AboutUs/Documents/Master%20Board%20Papers%20May%202017%20%20Part%201.pdf

Alternative Business Structure for National Accident Helpline (NAHL)

NAHL is to launch its own law firm on 1 July 2017 after being awarded an alternative business structure (ABS) licence and signing a deal with Cardiff-based NewLaw Solicitors.

This is in response to the recent personal injury reforms, and will put it in competition with its own panel law firms.

Russell Atkinson, CEO of NAHL, said: “The setting up of this ABS is a positive development in executing the group’s strategic plans to advance its business model and prepare the division for the PI market changes announced by the government in February 2017."

The ABS will trade under the name Your Law LLP and is expected to start business on 1 July 2017.

Read more at markets.ft.com/data/announce/

Reducing Fraudulent Holiday Sickness Claims

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating several firms in the claimant personal injury sector that are suspected of taking on fraudulent or exaggerated holiday sickness claims. There has been an unprecedented rise in these types of personal injury claims, due to touts targeting tourist hotspots and encouraging people to seek compensation. The Foreign Office is warning people travelling to Spain not to be tempted into making a false holiday sickness claim or they risk prosecution.

Andrew Twambley, spokesperson for A2J, the campaign group for the claimant PI sector said: “We need to help the SRA help the sector. The public has made clear they want an end to cold calling and claims touting, and all of us, law firms, insurers, travel operators and regulators, are responsible for making that happen and shoring up public trust in the system. We also need insurers, travel operators and law enforcement agencies to take a much more aggressive approach to prosecutions.”

Read more at www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/report-firms-making-fraudulent-holiday-claims-claimant-group/5061446.article

MedCo news: Expert Hacking Warning

At the end of June, MedCo discovered a potential scam involving false invoices raised against genuine Medical Expert appointments. The scam does not involve the MedCo system itself. It seems that fraudsters are attempting to hack the electronic diaries of Experts and steal appointment details, which they can use to send false invoices to authorised users.

More details on their site: www.medco.org.uk

How will Brexit Affect Personal Injury Law?

Brett Dixon, President of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), has told the Law Society Gazette that he is worried that, “The Great Repeal Bill will convert EU laws (as they apply in the UK) into domestic law but the government has the power to pick out what is needed and dispense with what is not. Proper parliamentary scrutiny of this process is essential. Many of the relevant legislative provisions applied to personal injury have their roots, and the basis for their continued development, in Europe, particularly those relating to workplace health and safety requirements. Health and safety regulations and subsequent case law have been an important factor in a decline in workplace deaths. We need to ensure this decline continues and is not reversed.”

Read more at www.lawgazette.co.uk/comment-and-opinion/what-we-want-from-the-new-government/5061591.article

Survivors of the Conservative Manifesto from the Queen’s Speech

The Queen’s speech in June revealed that the Civil Liability Bill will keep elements of the last parliament’s Prisons and Courts Bill aimed at reducing whiplash claims. In briefing notes, the government said the bill would 'tackle the rampant compensation culture'. It will ban offers to settle claims without the support of medical evidence and introduce a new fixed tariff of compensation for whiplash injuries lasting up to two years. The new legislation is predicted to cut motor insurance premiums by £35 a year.

The new Patient Safety Bill will be published to improve how the NHS investigates mistakes and encourage staff to share information freely. It will 'embed a culture of learning and safety improvement across the NHS' and ensure serious incidents can be investigated by an independent and impartial body 'without the need for expensive, lawyer-led inquiries where that is unnecessary'.

Read more at www.gov.uk/government/publications/queens-speech-2017-background-briefing-notes

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