Clinical Negligence and Healthcare

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Outer Temple Chambers offers specialist advice and advocacy in all aspects of healthcare law, from minor injury cases to cerebral palsy cases, inquests to multi-party actions, and public inquiries. With great emphasis placed on client care, we strive to ensure that those we act for receive sensitive treatment together with an effective independent legal service.

Clinical negligence claims

Our barristers are experienced in the full range of clinical negligence claims involving doctors, dentists, nurses and other health professionals. We act for both claimants and defendants and, where appropriate, accept work under individual conditional fee agreements.

We strive to provide clear advice on the merits and value of claims, and guide cases through the complexities of litigation or alternative dispute resolution effectively. We advise organisations such as the Legal Services Commission and the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA), as well as insurance companies in this field.

Our clinical negligence team is active in Action for Victims of Medical Accidents (AVMA), the Professional Negligence Bar Association (PNBA) and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). Our members regularly lecture on developments in healthcare law and procedure to solicitors, doctors and other healthcare professionals.

Multi-party litigation

We have acted in many prominent multi-party claims, including the Devon Breast Screening Claims, the Nationwide Organ Group Litigation and the Leicester Royal Infirmary Epilepsy Cases. We are familiar with case management, procedure and cost sharing problems that arise in such cases.

Inquiries and inquests

Outer Temple Chambers has extensive experience of inquiry work at all levels, from large-scale public inquiries to internal NHS reviews, and other extra ­judicial investigations. We represent families, professionals and other interested persons in coroner's inquests. We have been instructed in many of the most significant health related inquiries in recent years, including:

• The Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
• The Shipman Inquiry
• The Royal Brompton Hospital Inquiry
• The Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry
• The Richard Neale Inquiry
• The Clifford Ayling Inquiry
• The Gosport War Memorial Hospital Inquests

 

Through their involvement in this work, several members have developed particular interest in questions of clinical governance and clinical risk management.

 

Healthcare advisory work

We advise on questions and appear in cases across a broad range of healthcare

issues including:

• Confidentiality
• Reproductive rights and embryology
• Statutory consultation on proposed changes to health service provision
• The respective responsibilities of health and social care bodies
• Regulation of independent hospitals and health facilities under the Care Standards Act 2000
• The application of the Human Rights Act 1998
• Discrimination and equal opportunities issues

The breadth of experience at Chambers enables us to provide specialist advice on the employment, public law or criminal aspects of any healthcare law issue relevant to our clients.

 

Consent to treatment and mental capacity

We provide practical and responsive advice on the medical treatment of children and adults lacking mental capacity, and on other decisions they are unable to make for themselves. Where an application to court is required, our experienced family practitioners conduct 'best interests' cases on behalf of families, the treating team and the Official Solicitor/CAFCASS.

 

Professional discipline and criminal proceedings

Our barristers represent practitioners before professional disciplinary bodies such as the General Medical Council, General Dental Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. We deal with questions of public law and human rights arising from disciplinary proceedings and their related contractual and employment issues. We also appear in criminal proceedings involving doctors and other healthcare professionals.

 

Mental Health Law

Chambers is particularly experienced in complex mental health work and represents patients, doctors, NHS Trusts and regulatory bodies on law and policy. We conduct: tribunal cases in Mental Health Review and Care Standards Tribunals; judicial review cases in the Administrative Court and at appellate level; inquests and claims for compensation arising out of psychiatric care. Several members of Chambers sit as legal members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. All those representing patients at Tribunals have received formal training equivalent to Law Society Mental Health Panel members, and are members of the Mental Health Lawyers Association. Recent work has included linked inquests into the deaths of several psychiatric patients in Sidmouth, Devon, and the inquest into the death of Derek Bennett, shot by police in London.

 

Prominent cases in which we have recently been involved include:

• The Gosport War Memorial Hospital Inquests Inquests into the deaths of ten patients who were treated with the use of Diamporphine and syringe drivers between 1996 and 1999.
  

• Corbett v S Yorks. HA: Brain damaged claimant. Long life expectancy. Test case on issue of indexation of periodical payments and implications of Working Time Directive for resident carer. Part-heard and will conclude in January 2007.

• Bangladesh Arsenic Litigation: House of Lords' Group action by hundreds of victims of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. Appeal dealing with whether foresight of personal injury is sufficient, on its own, to constitute the proximity required to establish a duty of care.

• NHS Trust A v MB (a child) & Mr and Mrs B: Attempt by NHS Trust to withdraw life-sustaining artificial ventilation from a child - a case which dominated the headlines for many days.

• Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust v As, Bs and others: Black twins born to white mother as a result of an IVF mix up. Issue of legal fatherhood. Construction of s. 28 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and compatibility of that section with the ECHR: 2003.

• Evans v Amicus Healthcare [2005] ECHR 6339: (Fam), application for a declaration to allow claimant to use her frozen embryos without her former partner's consent considered by HL and ECHR (Strasbourg).

• French v Thames Valley NHS Trust (2005) EWHC 459 (QB) (dated 22/3/05, Beatson J): Successful defence of a claim that birth injury resulted from negligent management of pre-eclampsia.

• Re Luke Winston-Jones [2004]: Declarations made by the President of The Family Division on the lawfulness of medical treatment of a severely ill baby.

• (1) A (2) B & ors v (1) Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust (2) Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust [2004] EWHC 644 (QB): Claims brought by parents of deceased children whose organs were removed and retained.

• Page v Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust [2004] EWHCA Civ 1154 (QB): Dealing with the recoverability of investment damages likely to be incurred in managing a substantial fund of damages.

 

For further information on our clinical negligence and healthcare workgroup please contact Graham Woods, Senior Team Leader, on 020 7353 6381.