Public Authorities and Negligence: Lessons from Tindall v Chief Constable

Public Authorities and Negligence: Lessons from Tindall v Chief Constable Lucy McCann Introduction On 23 October 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Tindall v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police [2024] UKSC 33, the latest in a recent series of appellate court decisions regarding the liability of…

Court of Appeal Upholds the High Court’s Decision That Long Waiting Times for Transgender Healthcare are Lawful

Court of Appeal Upholds the High Court’s Decision That Long Waiting Times for Transgender Healthcare are Lawful Lucy McCann R (on the application of AA (A Child)) v National Health Service Commissioning Board (NHS England) [2023] EWCA Civ 902 on appeal from [2023] EHWC 43 (Admin). On 16 January 2023,…

Who gets to go to theatre for urgent surgery first?

Matthew Donmall Middleton v Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust [2022] EWHC 2981 (KB) Deputy High Court Judge Jonathan Glasson KC heard this case concerning the timing of revascularisation surgery at Frimley Park Hospital, and whether it was mandatory for the Claimant to be operated on within 6 hours of the…

Cancer and Contributory Negligence: Who is the Objectively Reasonable Patient?

Otu v Vivek Datta [2022] EWHC 2388 (KB) When will a patient be partly at fault for not following up when their doctor negligently fails to arrange an appointment? That was the question asked of the High Court in Otu v Datta, a case concerning the death of the Claimant’s…

Bolam, Bolitho, or Both-of-‘Em?

Bradfield-Kay v Cope [2020] EWHC 1351 (QB)  This article originally appeared in Issue 6 (September 2020). This split trial on breach of duty concerned allegations relating to the performance of a total left hip replacement by the Defendant. Of interest is the approach taken by the judge to the distinction…

The Standard of Care in Pure Diagnosis Cases

Brady v Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 158 (QB)  This article originally appeared in Issue 5 (May 2020). In the bulk of actions for clinical negligence, the standard of care owed to the patient is one point which attracts relatively little judicial consternation. In Brady, and cases…

Legal Immunity in the Covid-19 Pandemic?

It was reported over the weekend of 18-19 April 2020 that the Medical Defence Union (“MDU”), which provides legal support to around 200,000 doctors, was calling for a debate on the need for emergency legislation to protect doctors from negligence claims arising from the COVID-19 emergency.  The particular concerns raised…

Assessing the Standard of Care – Past or Present?

Jones v Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 1408 (QB)  This article originally appeared in Issue 3 (November 2019). It is trite law that if a doctor acts in accordance with a responsible body of medical opinion at the time of the treatment, their actions are not negligent,…

Assessing the Standard of Care – Junior Doctors

George Andrews v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2019] CSOH 31  This article originally appeared in Issue 3 (November 2019). Background  This Scottish case arose from the death of Ms Jean Graham and was brought by her partner of 20 years, Mr George Andrews. Ms Graham had attended hospital on 6…