As coronavirus (COVID-19) rapidly spreads throughout the world, the government has implemented The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020. The Secretary of State now has the ability to declare COVID-19 a ‘serious and imminent threat to public health’, in which case drastic powers of detainment will be afforded to contain the virus.
Please note: the information contained in this legal update is correct as of the original date of publication
As coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to rapidly spread, the House of Commons is currently considering the Coronavirus Bill 2019-2021. The Secretary of State has the ability to declare COVID-19 a ‘serious and imminent threat to public health’, in which case drastic powers of detainment, forced testing and isolation will be afforded to the police, public health and immigration officials.
Self-isolation remains the government’s key advice to those at risk of infection. Combined with the potential for detainment in the near future, many are looking to advances in health tech to provide a solution. The ability for patients to be treated without having to physically visit a hospital or GP will prove invaluable in providing necessary care whilst minimising the spread of the virus further. Increased pressure will therefore be placed on ensuring health tech is used in an appropriate way.
A mass influx of confidential data being transmitted online must be afforded sufficient cyber security. Clients should keep all software up to date and undertake vigorous security and testing protocols. Additionally, contracts should be reviewed to ensure best modern practices are employed, robust security obligations are enforced and compliance with data protection legislation is achieved.
If you would like us to look at the robustness of your contracts to futureproof your requirements or advise on your information governance arrangements please get in touch with a member of our Commercial team.
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.
