8 January 2020 Blog New Court of Appeal decision on the difficult issue of the Public Sector Equality Duty Breach of the Public Sector Equality Duty need not always be fatal to a decision. The Court of Appeal's decision in Forward v Aldwyck Housing Group Limited confirms that that there is no general rule requiring the courts to quash a decision where there has been a failure to have due regard to the PSED... Share this article Bookmark this page 7 min read
19 December 2019 Blog Business rates: NHS Trusts’ £2bn claim for charitable relief fails in High Court Richard New, business rates specialist reviews the case of Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and 16 Others v Derby City Council and 44 Others [Charity Commission as Intervener]... Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read
19 December 2019 Blog On Santa’s wish list: when does the operational duty of Article 2 inquests apply to deaths of patients in the community? We now have the court’s decision in R (Lee) v HM Assistant Coroner for Sunderland. If you were hoping for a clear view to this vexed question – then, be prepared for disappointment. In short, it will always depend on the facts of the case... Share this article Bookmark this page 1 min read
9 December 2019 Blog Special category data: getting the processing right ICO provides further detailed guidance for data protection officers on special categories of personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office last month published new detailed guidance on processing special category data... Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read
4 December 2019 Blog The risk of combining medications not always set out in the BNF? Prevention of future death report: coroner writes to NICE over lack of guidance on co-prescribing guidance for amitriptyline and oxycodone... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read
2 December 2019 Blog New case on force-feeding patients under the Mental Health Act In JK v A Local Health Board, the Family Division of the High Court recently provided some useful narrative on the approach to be taken when considering the force-feeding of capacitous patients who are detained under the Mental Health Act and more generally on the use of section 63 MHA when treating patients against their will... Share this article Bookmark this page 4 min read
26 November 2019 Blog Tribunal finds failure to adjust sickness policy for disabled worker was discriminatory The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that a NHS Trust was in breach of its duty to make reasonable adjustments when it failed to adjust its sickness absence management policy for an employee suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome... Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read
22 November 2019 Blog A new set of light touch terms for smaller public sector contracts The Crown Commercial Service has published an updated version of its short form terms and conditions to be used for lower value contracts... Share this article Bookmark this page 1 min read
21 November 2019 Blog New: Mills & Reeve Health Procurement Portal arriving in 2020 Mills & Reeve’s Health Procurement Portal is coming in 2020. To mark the launch we’re offering an early bird discount to the first ten NHS organisations to sign up... Share this article Bookmark this page 1 min read
20 November 2019 Blog Confidentiality Rings: what you need to know With apologies to the ‘Pass Notes’ section of a well known national newspaper this blog is a short but informative (we hope) summary of (nearly) everything you need to know about Confidentiality Rings... Share this article Bookmark this page 3 min read
19 November 2019 Blog New procurement thresholds coming into force from January 2020 The European Commission has published new procurement threshold values which will apply to contracts advertised on and after 1 January 2020... Share this article Bookmark this page 1 min read
14 November 2019 Blog Inpatients with a learning disability or autism to have their cases reviewed All 2,250 patients with learning disabilities and autism who are inpatients in a mental health hospital will have their care reviewed over the next 12 months, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced... Share this article Bookmark this page 2 min read