Brennan and others v (1) City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (2) Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust [2021]: healthcare litigation and human rights

In this post, Megan Griffiths looks at the recent case of Brennan and others v (1) City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (2) Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust [2021]1 WLUK 429, a very sad case concerning the decomposition of a woman's body in a hospital mortuary.

Provision of medical services to NHS patients by a third party – does the NHS Trust owe a duty of care?

In this post, Henry King discusses the case of Hopkins (A Child) v Akramy [2020] EWHC 3445 (QB), in which the court held that an NHS Primary Care Trust did not owe a non-delegable duty of care to protect NHS patients from harm, including harm from the negligent provision of primary medical services by a third party. This case provides useful insight into the court's considerations in a situation where the alleged negligence is by a third party with whom the NHS has contracted to provide healthcare services.

Essure sterilisation implant litigation: Product liability and clinical negligence post-Cumberlege

Charley Turton begins 2021 with a look ahead to the Essure sterilisation implant litigation, including in particular how it may be impacted by the damning Cumberlege review. What is Essure? Essure, a permanent, non-surgical birth control implant was approved by NICE and first marketed in the UK in 2009. A small coil made from polyester … Continue reading Essure sterilisation implant litigation: Product liability and clinical negligence post-Cumberlege →

COVID 19 Vaccine – questions of safety and civil liability

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) has given Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 temporary authorisation under regulation 174 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, which enables temporary authorisation to be granted in response to situations such as pandemics. In this blog, which is the first of a two-part series, Cressida Mawdesley-Thomas considers when there could be civil liability for an unlicensed vaccine. It also considers the conditions imposed by the MHRA for the granting of the temporary authorisation to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Informed consent in children and young people

In this blog post, Megan Griffiths summarises and analyses the High Court’s recent decision in Bell v Tavistock NHS Trust. This judicial review decision looks at informed consent practices for children and young people with gender dysphoria, whether they can achieve Gillick competence for consenting to puberty blocking treatment, and what such consent processes would require in practice. This decision is likely to impact on guidance specific to gender dysphoria, but the findings on the types of information required for informed consent in young people are also likely to be relevant to other areas of clinical practice.

R (on the application of Maughan) (Appellant) v Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire (Respondent) [2020] UKSC 46

In this blog post, Ed Ramsay and David Sharpe QC examine the recent Supreme Court decision in the case of Maughan. This case concerns an inquest, and we feel that updates in inquest law would be of interest to readers given that inquests often feature in clinical negligence cases involving a fatal incident.