The Chief Coroner has helpfully published new guidance in the form of Law Sheet 6, dealing with the judgment of R (on the application of Maughan) v HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire.
The Chief Coroner has helpfully published new guidance in the form of Law Sheet 6, dealing with the judgment of R (on the application of Maughan) v HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire. In Maughan, the Supreme Court ruled that all conclusions in coronial inquests are to be determined on the civil standard: the balance of probabilities.
This overruled previous precedent that the standard of proof for Unlawful Killing and Suicide Conclusions was the criminal standard, beyond reasonable doubt. For many years the Coroner or jury could only return an Unlawful Killing Conclusion if they were satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the death was caused by the crime of murder, manslaughter or infanticide. Now following the decision in Maughan the Coroner only has to be satisfied of this on the balance of probabilities. You can read our earlier blog here and article here on the implications this may have for NHS organisations.
The Chief Coroner’s new guidance highlights several take away points from the judgment of Maughan.
It is made clear that where a coroner reaches a Conclusion of Unlawful Killing, this has no bearing on criminal proceedings because of the distinct difference in the standard of proof. Previously, an inquest would apply a criminal standard so it would be unusual to have an Unlawful Killing Conclusion without a criminal conviction.
Under the new law, the Chief Coroner states clearly that where there has been a criminal trial without conviction or the CPS have decided not to prosecute, a coroner can still reach an Unlawful Killing Conclusion.
The guidance highlights that although the lower standard of proof will have some impact on the increase of Unlawful Killing Conclusions, it must be viewed in its wider context. In 2019 Unlawful Killing made up 0.5% of all inquest conclusions. The Chief Coroner makes clear that the issue of Unlawful Killing will only feature in relatively few cases.
If a conclusion of Unlawful Killing is reached it should be well-reasoned and fact specific. There is no requirement for a coroner to use any particular wording on the Record of Inquest, but it remains that a coroner, wherever possible, should record a short form conclusion.
The Chief Coroner’s guidance does provide some reassurance that Unlawful Killing will remain a relatively rare conclusion in the Coroner’s Court. The Chief Coroner makes a clear the distinction between inquests and criminal proceedings. Inquests remain a ‘fact-finding exercise and not a method of apportioning blame’. However, it is clear from the Guidance that even where there has been a criminal trial without conviction or the CPS have decided not to prosecute the Coroner can and will still return an Unlawful Killing Conclusion because the standard of proof is lower at inquest. In those cases where there has been a police investigation which has not resulted in prosecution, Trusts will need to be extra vigilant at inquest to the possibility of an Unlawful Killing Conclusion and in those cases we would recommend seeking legal advice at an early stage. Do get in touch with us if we can help with this or any other issues.
The BMA is advising all NHS / HSCNI consultants to ensure extra-contractual work is paid at the BMA minimum recommended rate and to decline offers of extra-contractual work that doesn't value them appropriately.
NHS England has published (October 2022) new guidance - Assuring and supporting complex change: Statutory transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.
NHS England has issued an updated (publication 11 October 2022) suite of Complex Change guidance about how it will assure and support proposals for complex change that are reportable to it. New and (where it is still in force) existing Complex Change guidance are as follows.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
It is clear that the digital landscape, often termed cyberspace, is a man-made environment, in which human behaviour dominates and where technology both influences and aids our role in it — through the internet, telecoms and networked computer systems, which are often interdependent. The extent to which any organisation is potentially vulnerable to cyber-attack depends on how well these elements are aligned.
In Mogane v Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether it was fair to dismiss a nurse as redundant on the basis that that her fixed-term contract was due to expire before that of her colleague.
Three months on from the commencement of the new statutory Integrated Care Systems (ICS) Anja Beriro and Gerrard Hanratty reflect on the main themes and issues that have come from the new relationship between local government and health.
The majority of people do not feel the need to embellish their CV to get that coveted position and move on up the career ladder. Their worthiness and benefit to the hiring organisation are easily demonstrated through the recruitment process – application, psychometric testing, selection day or interview.
On Saturday 15 October a wave of light swept the internet when thousands of people flooded social media with pictures of candles to remember the babies that they have lost. This event signifies the end of Baby Loss Awareness Week which aims to break the silence that is associated with baby loss in pregnancy and infancy.
The Coronavirus Act 2020 allowed any registered medical practitioner to sign a medical certificate of cause of death (“MCCD”), even if the deceased was not attended to during his or her last illness and not seen after death, provided that the medical practitioner could state the cause of death to the best of their knowledge and belief.
In our latest Shared Insights session, Focus on Emergency Medicine, chaired by Jennifer Fagin and Amelia Newbold, we were pleased to be joined by: Dr Alex Crowe, Deputy Director Incentive Schemes & Academic Partnerships, NHS Resolution and Consultant Nephrologist and Miss Susie Hewitt MBE, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.
.jpg?variant=HeroImageTabletVariantDefinition)