23 March 2020 Blog First Skype hearing in the Court of Protection Last week saw the CoP use Skype for Business to conduct its first trial – and in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this potentially represents a new model for ensuring court business continuity... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read
20 March 2020 Blog Updated: coronavirus guidance on Mental Health Tribunal hearings Further to Sarah Garrood’s blog post yesterday, new updated guidance has now been provided by the Senior President of Tribunals, Sir Ernest Ryder dated 19 March and published today... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read
20 March 2020 Blog Update: High Court rules on medical confidentiality in the context of hereditary disease A High Court decision raises, in stark form, the potential dilemma for healthcare professionals around patient confidentiality and appropriate risk disclosure to relatives in cases where a patient’s genetic information may have relevance to family members... Share this article Bookmark this page 7 min read
20 March 2020 Blog Coronavirus and health service indemnity Health service indemnification. Relax. ‘Safety-net’ cover for health and care staff carrying out additional work during the Coronavirus outbreak... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read
20 March 2020 Blog New: Cabinet Office PPN on COVID-19 and urgent direct awards As part of responses to the current pandemic, authorities may need to urgently procure goods, services and works which in more ordinary times would require a competitive procurement process to be run... Share this article Bookmark this page 4 min read
20 March 2020 Blog Coronavirus Bill: temporary changes to NHS Continuing Healthcare assessments The Bill includes provisions which relate to a wide range of areas, but they are all focussed on responding to the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read
20 March 2020 Blog Coronavirus Bill: changes to the Mental Health Act The Coronavirus Bill 2019-21 has had its first reading, with its second reading on 23 March. So, what changes can be expected for those working with the Mental Health Act?.. Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read
19 March 2020 Blog Coronial matters in the Coronavirus Bill The Government's Coronavirus Bill was presented to Parliament today and MPs will next consider the Bill on Monday 23 March. The Bill therefore remains subject to scrutiny and amendment... Share this article Bookmark this page 4 min read
19 March 2020 Blog Coronavirus guidance: Mental Health Tribunal hearings The Mental Health Tribunal (MHT) confirmed yesterday that its hearings will continue as planned and, for the present, will still require three panel members to attend those hearings... Share this article Bookmark this page 1 min read
19 March 2020 Blog Oral disclosure doesn’t constitute the processing of personal data The High Court has ruled that where a charity providing counselling services made an oral disclosure to a doctor regarding the wellbeing and mental health of one of its patients, that disclosure was not unlawful under the Data Protection Act 1998... Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read
18 March 2020 Blog Next steps on NHS response to COVID-19: a missive from NHS England and NHS Improvement Last night Sir Simon Stevens and Amanda Pritchard wrote to NHS leaders in all hospital trusts, clinical commissioning groups, general practice and Primary Care Networks and providers of community health services... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read
18 March 2020 Blog Coronavirus and data protection: frequently asked questions As the Government’s strategy to delay the spread of COVID-19 continues to unfurl, we share a few of the answers to the questions the ICO are being asked on data protection issues which will be of interest to healthcare data controllers... Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read