Author: Editor - Elizabeth Boulden

The criminal prosecution of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust for the unsafe clinical care leading to the death of baby Harry Richford

In this post, Vanessa Cashman discusses this recent criminal prosecution regarding the failings in maternity care from East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. It is a landmark case, being the first time that the CQC has prosecuted an NHS Trust over failings in clinical care.

Breakingbury v Croad: non-delegable duty in dental negligence

Ted Cunningham discusses this case concerning a dental practice’s owner’s non-delegable duty, where judgment was handed down in April by His Honour Judge Harrison, sitting at Cardiff County Court. The judgment can be accessed here, on the website of the solicitors for the claimant. In short, the Learned Judge held that Mr Croad, a former dentist who had been retired for 20 years and who had sold his practice many years before the litigation commenced, owed a non-delegable duty of care to the Claimant at the material time.

Wrongful Birth Revisited: Khan v Meadows [2021] UKSC 21 – a reminder

To get us all up to speed ahead of this Supreme Court judgment, which is due to be handed down on Friday 28 May, Helen Waller has helpfully set out the background to this case, the decisions of the lower courts, and a summary of the law on wrongful birth claims. We will update this blog post in the next few days with the result of the Supreme Court decision and our analysis of it.

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.