Browne Jacobson, instructed by NHS Resolution, recently represented Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Brady v Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Browne Jacobson, instructed by NHS Resolution, recently represented Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Brady v Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The case centered upon whether the interpretation of radiological imaging by 2 radiologists in two different sets of imaging was reasonable. The Claimant’s case was not that the Defendant should have diagnosed the rare condition that she was actually suffering from (actinomycosis a rare infectious bacterial disease) but that when interpreting the imaging, malignancy should have been considered as part of a differential diagnosis
Despite Deputy Judge Andrew Lewis QC concluding that with the benefit of hindsight, the diagnosis reached by the radiologist after the first scan was unlikely to have been correct, breach of duty was not established. The Judge concluded that that the reporting radiologist acted reasonably in concluding that omental infarction (lack of blood supply to the apron-like fold that lines the abdominal cavity) was “the most likely diagnosis; at that stage in the medical history he had a proper basis and radiological appearances supporting his opinion”.
Similarly, the second radiologist was not criticised for not reaching the correct diagnosis at the time of the later September 2013 scan. Although she did not identify what the mass was, she reported the appearances seen on the CT scan. She was uncertain and therefore unwilling to identify a likely diagnosis in her written report. Although her report was sub-optimal and did not identify the differential diagnoses, it did provide a clear view from a radiological perspective as to where to go in the further investigation of the case.
The Judgment sets out the importance of obtaining further opinion and the difficulty a Claimant will have in establishing that treatment is Bolam negligent in situations where second opinions are reasonably sought, considered and agreed.
The case for the Claimant was dismissed on the basis that the Court was unable to find that the actions of the clinicians fell outside of the well-established principles in Bolam and Bolitho.
The Claimant argued that in this case there was no place for the application of the legal standards set out in Bolam and Bolitho on the basis that this claim was one of “pure diagnosis”, such that the principles in Penney v East Kent HA should apply; there was a question solely of whether the diagnosis was right or wrong.
Whilst acknowledging the recent case law on “pure diagnosis” cases, the Judge concluded that this was of limited relevance as there was a range of possible diagnoses on interpretation of the radiology. The allegations were also that it was the performance of a biopsy would have led to the diagnosis, not reporting of the CT scans per se.
The Judge accepted that it was a question of fact as to what the scans showed but in judging the standard of clinical interpretation of those scans, the correct approach was in line with the guiding principles in Bolam and Bolitho.
The decision provides reassurance to clinicians that even if a diagnosis that they have made turns out to be wrong, they will not be found to be negligent if the court accepts that a responsible body of their peers would support the decision they made.
The Defendant was represented by Anna Hughes of 2 Temple Gardens instructed by Browne Jacobson LLP. The Claimant was represented by Jamie Carpenter of Hailsham Chambers instructed by Gadsby Wicks.
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.
Browne Jacobson has been ranked as a Top Tier law firm in 25 key practice areas in Legal 500 UK 2023, the independent directory of comparative law firm performance. The firm also continues to underpin its status as one of the leading law firms in the East Midlands region with 16 Tier 1 rankings.
On 7 July this year, NHS England published its statutory guidance for Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and with it set out the ICBs’ role and responsibilities and how they should collaborate, interact and carry out their anti-fraud, bribery and corruption functions in concert with NHS England.
The Chancellor’s recent mini-budget provided a significant announcement for business as it was confirmed that the off-payroll working rules (known as “IR35”) put in place for public and private sector businesses from 2017 and 2021 will be scrapped from April 2023.
This case provides a reminder to contracting authorities that whilst the bar for an award of damages in procurement cases is high, following the Supreme Court ruling in Energy Solutions EU Ltd v Nuclear Decommissioning Authority [2017] 1 WLR 1373, it is not insurmountable when a contracting authority has acted with disregard to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCRs). There is also further guidance as to the use of frameworks
