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Health and care

Health and care is an ecosystem. Your health lawyers need to understand every part of it and how they connect. With our extensive experience, our healthcare solicitors can help you navigate this.

illustration for Health and care

With our years as a leader in the health and care sector and our cross-sector expertise, ​our healthcare lawyers cover everything from NHS workforce to the biggest transactions between the public and independent sectors. 

 

Our healthcare solicitors can help you in three key ways.

  • Deliver the big things - Mergers and acquisitions. Major contracts. Service redesign. Digital transformation. 

  • Manage the everyday challenges - Workforce. Patient issues. Regulator relationships. Estates. ESG. Cyber security. 

  • Make the important decisions - Being your critical friend. A second pair of eyes, guiding your decision-making.

Our experience

Our health and care lawyers have a range of experience including:

  • Working with the Department of Health and Social Care to design, procure and implement the Future Operating Model project - a system governing some £5 billion plus annual NHS spend 

  • Supporting a high-profile US hospital group on the planned opening of a new London site 

  • High profile and extremely sensitive patient litigation

  • Supporting the British Medical Association (BMA) in connection with the new £2.8 billion GP contract in England with £1.8 billion being earmarked to support the creation of new Primary Care Networks 

  • Advising founders/owners of care home businesses on the sale of various care homes including preparation for sale 

  • Advising a major US real estate investment trust on their healthcare property interests in the UK 

High client satisfaction: 95% of our clients would recommend us to others.

Size: 200 lawyers including 26 partners work with 400+ clients.

Strong industry networks: we connect the sector from boards to wards.

Thought leaders and industry speakers: championing innovation and creating solutions.

Industry recognised/acknowledgement: multi award winning and top directories rankings.

Did you know?

30,000 staff

Advising Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust on workforce issues.

30+

Delivering new EPR and connected IT systems across NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Systems.

£300m

Supporting Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the development of the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. 

Our clients

  • Acute care - Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children FT, Manchester University NHS FT, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

  • Mental health - Mersey Care NHS FT, Elysium Healthcare, Cygnet Health

  • Commissioners - ICBs

  • National bodies - Department of Health & Social Care, UK Health Security Agency, Supply Chain Coordination Limited, CQC, Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority

  • Charities - Sue Ryder, Livability

  • Care and education - providers (Four Season Health Care, Aspris) and investors (Downing LLP)

  • Healthtech & digital health innovators - Siemens Healthcare, IGPR Technologies, Preventx, Ergea, Alliance Medical

  • Primary care - Primary Care Networks, BMA Law

Our lawyers

200+ lawyers work for our health and care clients, including specialists in aligned areas like life sciences, healthtech, IT, insurance and education.

What our clients say about us

 

“You and the team have been epic, but very importantly not just for this deal but in all our dealings over the last 7+ years. You took the time to understand the business, you understood our ambition and you matched our energy, as a partner we couldn’t have asked anymore of you and the team”

Derrick Farrell, Chief Executive

Vita Health Group

“Professional and responsive service consistently provided. I believe that they have taken time to understand our organisation and we have developed a good working relationship.”

Client “Fearless Feedback” Survey

NHS Client

“All representatives of Mills & Reeve were excellent in the services they offered throughout the project and I will not hesitate to recommend the firm.”

Client “Fearless Feedback” Survey

Independent Sector Health Client

Our expertise

CareTech
Commissioning, contracts and procurement
Governance and partnerships
Health and care inquests
Health and care: M&A and other corporate transactions
Health and care real estate and capital projects
Health tech
Independent sector health and care
Mental capacity
Mental health
NHS digital transformation
Policy, public law and disputes
Primary care
Public inquiries and investigations
Social care
Women's health and technology (femtech)
Employment - health and care
Health and care regulation

Health and care blog

Our health and care blog keeps our clients up to date with sector developments from policy to new case law. 

Health and care blog

Health and care hub

Our unique online resource for health and care clients working in the public and independent sectors.

Access the hub

Integrated care systems hub

Our ICS Hub page includes a wide range of resources to help provide answers and guidance for a variety of legal issues specifically for professionals working at systems, place-based or neighbourhood levels. 

Find out more

Talking digital health

Whether you're developing a new health tech product to sell to the NHS, or procuring tech from the NHS, this podcast will guide you through every step of the way.

Listen now

FemHealth Focus

We're hosting a series of roundtable events around the country focusing on how each of these gaps can be addressed to overcome the barriers to better health outcomes for women. Our findings are then turned into a series of reports that you can download.

Read more about FemHealth Focus

Meet the team

Get in touch

Our team of legal experts are here to support you.
Contact one of our lawyers today.

Contact us

Frequently asked questions

Our health and care lawyers support clients to overcome obstacles and challenges and achieve incredible results. 

Examples from the past 12 months:

·       Large scale capital schemes. Advising Cambridge University Hospitals on the development of the £300 million world class Cancer Research Hospital and the first Children’s Hospital for East of England

·       NHS digital transformation with Electronic Patient Record projects and the intra-Trust EPR collaboration in the sector, such as Royal Papworth, Norfolk & Waveney, Salisbury, Swindon & Bath and Plymouth, and Torbay & South Devon

·       Supply Chain Coordination Limited on its projects delivering of over £1 billion of supplies to NHS

·       UK Health Security Agency as one of the Core Participants in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry

·       ARCHIMED on the sale of Vita Health Group to Spire Healthcare Group for £74 million

·       Sue Ryder on the sale of its neurological services in England to Brainkind (The Disabilities Trust)

·       Four Seasons Health Care on Project Oak, the sale of a national portfolio of care homes to several different buyers

Yes.

We help both public and independent healthcare organisations, advising 500+ clients nationally, in every part of the sector – from NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards to national bodies and independent sector providers and investors covering mental health, technology, specialist education and care services, fertility services, care homes.


Our NHS healthcare lawyers understand the legal frameworks used by the NHS to deliver care and the partnership models adopted by NHS providers working with the independent sector. We have worked on many of the emerging collaboratives across the public-private sector. 

We have one of the largest and most experienced health and care solicitors teams, with over four decades of experience. This means creative solutions and informed advice based on a vast body of sector experience.

 

Specialist teams include:

  • Inquests
  • HealthTech
  • Care and education
  • Mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions
  • Mental health
  • Mental capacity
  • Employment
  • Commissioning, contracts and procurement
  • Governance and partnerships
  • Regulatory
  • Primary care
  • NHS digital transformation
  • Public inquiries and investigations
  • Real estate and capital projects

As advisors to the NHS and independent healthcare providers, we are:
•    Associates of NHS Confederation 
•    Commercial associates of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network

We have a range of resources you can sign up to:

Mills & Reeve has been appointed to the following NHS legal service frameworks:

  • NHS Commercial Solutions
  • NHS Shared Business Services
  • NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative 
  • Crown Commercial Services - Public Sector Legal Services    

Latest blogs

07 Apr 2025

IHPN’s Industry Barometer: Key findings

Launching the results of its Industry Barometer report, the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) are anticipating strong growth in the private pay markets over the coming year.

More

28 Mar 2025

The (re)-birth of wholly-owned subsidiaries in the NHS

With NHS providers being told to pass support functions to wholly-owned subsidiaries (WOS) companies, many are circling around the pros, cons, rules and processes applicable to WOS.

More

27 Mar 2025

Plans to cut energy bills for NHS hospitals

Great British Energy has announced that it is to put rooftop solar panels on around 200 NHS sites helping to reduce hospital energy bills. Savings will be reinvested in the NHS as part of the government’s Plan for Change to fix public services.

More

26 Mar 2025

Fluctuating capacity and the law: A quick guide

Fluctuating capacity has been a recurring issue in court cases in recent years. Our review of two cases highlights the need for flexible care plans and skilled assessors, and offers valuable guidance to navigate these complexities.

More

24 Mar 2025

Revisited: Applications for a fresh inquest

An erudite High Court judgment concerning a tragic and complex inquest provides lessons of law related to a failed judicial review claim and a subsequent challenge under section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 and the remedies available to the court.

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18 Mar 2025

Key insights from CQC’s Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2023 to 2024

Last week the Care Quality Commission published their annual report on the use of the Mental Health Act 1983.

More

17 Mar 2025

Update: Mental Health Bill

The Mental Health Bill came to the end of its scrutiny in the Committee stage of the House of Lords on 24 February 2025.

More

14 Mar 2025

Mind the FemTech data gap: Top tips for app developers

Academics are calling for an enhanced regulatory framework after their research found privacy and security concerns in female-oriented technologies (FemTech). Experts at York University and King’s College London conducted research to investigate how women’s health data within...

More

12 Mar 2025

Critical lessons in Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness and best interests decision-making

The Court of Protection has delivered a significant judgment concerning JP, a man in Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness (PDOC) who was in receipt of clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (CANH).

More

Latest articles

02 Apr 2025

What FemHealth innovators should think about when recruiting staff

FemHealth innovators starting a business or scaling up may feel overwhelmed by the legal and regulatory requirements that they must comply with. This includes employment law which is a critical aspect of any business but can sometimes be overlooked in the early planning stages...

More

25 Mar 2025

Limited scope for fresh inquests

A recent judicial review claim will be of interest to inquest practitioners where the High Court examined the Coroner’s inquest into the death of a prisoner in custody.

More

28 Feb 2025

Care Provider Alliance calls for “urgent change” to regulator’s single assessment framework

A new Care Provider Alliance (CPA) review into the CQC’s Single Assessment Framework (SAF) has been published. Its review examined the perspectives of social care providers of SAF and what they want from future regulation.

More

25 Feb 2025

The future of digital data sharing in health and social care

As we move from one healthcare setting to another, our data often fails to follow. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has recognised that this leads to delays, wasted resources and worse patient outcomes – and over the past few months has begun to explain its plan...

More

03 Feb 2025

20 top tips for dealing with FOIA (and EIR) requests

We outline 20 top tips for handling requests under freedom of information and environmental information legislation.

More

23 Jan 2025

The Data (Use and Access) Bill

The Bill was introduced to Parliament by the Starmer Government in October and will be amended further. It bears some similarities to earlier Bills introduced under the Sunak and Johnson Governments, but also has a number of differences. This articles outlines the main provisi...

More

11 Dec 2024

High Court dismisses challenge to NHS Continuing Health Care provision

In the recent case of R (Simpson) v NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board [2024] EWHC 3063 (Admin), the High Court dismissed a judicial review challenge concerning the legal adequacy of NHS Continuing Health Care (NHS CHC) provision. Samuel Lindsay and Melissa Spurling...

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11 Dec 2024

Court of Appeal finds GP contract dispute amenable to judicial review

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the determination of an NHS Resolution adjudicator carrying out statutory primary care contract dispute resolution functions on behalf of the Secretary of State is amenable to judicial review.

More

04 Dec 2024

Consultation launched on regulation of NHS managers

DHSC has published a major consultation seeking views on options for regulating NHS managers and on the possibility of introducing a professional duty of candour for NHS managers.

More

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Charities and social enterprise Construction contracts and appointments Employment - health and care Health and safety Health tech Information technology Information law, data protection and privacy Inquests Life sciences Procurement disputes Public procurement Regulatory Technology