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Selvanathan v General Medical Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 01
General Medical Council — Professional Conduct Committee — Whether on the evidence Committee entitled to find that appellant guilty of serious professional misconduct — Extent of duty to give reasons for that finding — Effect of procedural irregularities on fairness of proceedings
Krippendorf v General Medical Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 09
Professional performance procedures of the General Medical Council — Approach to be adopted — Assessment of past performance in work actually done — Assessment not by testing competence in work never called upon to perform
Calver v Westwood Veterinary Group
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 20
Veterinary negligence — Duty of care — Conflicting expert opinion — Judge's preference for claimant's expert opinion — Whether defendant's expert opinion capable of withstanding logical analysis
NHS Trust “A” v Mrs M; NHS Trust “B” v Mrs H
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 28
Medical treatment — Patient in persistent vegetative state — Whether pvs patient was alive — Whether withdrawal of artificial feeding and hydration lawful — Incompetent patient's right to autonomy — Limitations on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights — Decisions as to the real best interests of patients
Groom v Selby
[2001] LS Law Med 39
Damages — Failure to diagnose pregnancy — Birth of disabled child — Extent of liability
R v General Medical Council ex parte Richards
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 47
Judicial Review — Decision of Preliminary Proceedings Committee (“PPC”) of the GMC — Decision not to refer complaint of claimant to Professional Conduct Committee (“PCC”) — Decision attacked on basis that wrong test applied — Question of role of PPC in resolving factual issues and conflicts of evidence — Whether decision perverse
R v HM Coroners Court of St Pancras
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 67
Judicial Review — Coroner — Refusal to hold inquest — Unnatural death — Medical treatment — Whether failure of diagnosis effective cause of death
R v Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth HA & Ors, ex p Perry
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 73
Judicial Review — Closure by health authority of adult residential unit — Promises made to parents of home for life — Previous policy not to close — failure by health authority to consider promises and previous policy — Decision flawed even where health authority unaware of previous promise or policy — Court not able to remedy flaws and substitute decision
Smith v NHS Litigation Authority
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 90
Clinical negligence — Delay in diagnosis — Failure to perform test — Causation — Loss of a chance — Assumption as to defendant's treatment in hypothetical situation
Saeed v Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 111
Contract of employment — NHS Trust — Allegations of misconduct on part of doctor — Whether conduct personal or professional — Meaning of Department of Health Circular HC(90)9 — Whether contractual or public law test to be applied
Harrild v MOD, Jones, Hunt and Ors
[2001] LS Law Med 117
Limitation — Date of knowledge — Section 14(1)(b) Limitation Act 1980 — Knowledge of essential facts alleged to make act or omission negligent — Constructive knowledge — Section 14(3) Limitation Act 1980
R (Zietsman and Schmulian) v Dental Practice Board
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 124
Judicial Review — Dental Practice Board — National Health Service (General Dental Services) Regulations 1992 — Deferred consideration of payments to orthodontists under police investigation — Whether any power to suspend determination of a claim — Whether power to defer determination permits de facto suspension of the dentist from practice
R v Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust, ex p Reddy
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 137
Judicial review — Application for certiorari to quash respondent's findings of personal gross misconduct — Applicant's employment with respondent — Institution of formal disciplinary proceedings in accordance with Trust's Disciplinary Policy and Procedure — Termination of employment — Formal disciplinary hearing — Findings of personal gross misconduct — Power to proceed against former employee
Greenfield v Flather
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 143
Damages — Failure to carry out pregnancy test — Birth of healthy daughter — Claimant's decision to give up work and look after child — Whether pregnancy was “physical injury” such as to give rise to loss of earnings claim
R v Camden and Islington Health Authority, ex parte K
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 152
Mental Health Act 1983 — Duty under section 117 to provide aftercare services following patient's discharge from hospital — Whether such duty imposes absolute obligation on health authority to provide services so as implement conditions imposed by Mental Health Review Tribunal on conditionally discharging patient pursuant to section 73 of the Act, or whether the duty under section 117 was limited to taking all reasonable steps in attempting to implement the Tribunal's conditions — Whether the statutory regime under section 73 of the Act satisfied the obligations imposed by Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Kidd v Plymouth Health Authority, Cornwall County Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 165
Hooper indemnity claim by local authority — reopening of issues before final judgment
Skidmore v Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 175
Contract of employment — NHS Trust — Allegations of misconduct on part of doctor — Whether conduct personal or professional — Meaning of Department of Health Circular HC(90)9 — Whether contractual or public law test to be applied
A and Others v The National Blood Authority and Others
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 187
Consumer Protection — Articles 6 and 7(e) of the Product Liability Directive 1985/374 — Consumer Protection Act 1987 sections 3, 4(1)(e) — Blood products infected with Hepatitis C — Whether blood defective under Article 6 even if Hepatitis C was not discoverable — Whether infected blood was a standard or non-standard product — Development risks/discoverability defence under Article 7(e) — Causation — Measure of damages
Beattie v Secretary of State for Social Security
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 297
Structured settlement — Whether annuity payments made by life office to receiver of injured claimant to be treated as income for purposes of Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 — Whether such payments to be taken into account for purposes of assessing claimant's entitlement to income support
R (on the Application of H) v Mental Health Review Tribunal
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 302
Appeal from refusal of relief by way of judicial review — Mental Health Tribunal — Sections 72 and 73 of the Mental Health Act 1983 — Decision not to discharge patient from detention — European Convention on Human Rights Article 5 — Compatibility of sections 72 and 73 with Article 5 — Whether to issue a declaration of incompatibility under the Human Rights Act 1998
Parkinson v St James and Seacroft NHS Trust
[2001] LS Law Med 309
Wrongful conception claim — Negligent sterilisation leading to birth — Child born disabled — Whether damages recoverable for all costs of maintenance or those caused by the disability — Nature of the parental claim — Definition of disability
R v Her Majesty's Coroner for Inner London North, ex p Touche
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 327
Judicial review — Coroner — Refusal to hold inquest — Unnatural death — Neglect — Cause of death — Inquest after cremation — Coroner's jury — Payment of costs by coroner
R v Regional Director of Public Health (Trent)
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 338
Judicial review — Doctor referred to GMC — Alert letter issued — Decision of Preliminary Proceedings Committee (“PPC”) not to refer case to GMC's Professional Conduct Committee — PPC expressed concern about doctor's performance and gave advice to doctor — Certificate of good standing issued — Whether doctor exonerated by GMC — Whether refusal to withdraw alert letter reasonable
Oxley v Penwarden
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 347
Clinical negligence action — Case management conference — Court instructing parties to instruct joint expert on issue of causation — Whether parties entitled to instruct separate experts
A Health Authority v X and others
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 349
Disclosure of documents from care proceedings — Disclosure of medical records — Confidentiality — Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights — General medical services — Functions of health authorities under section 29 of the National Health Service Act 1977 — Complaints and disciplinary procedures — Whether general private law jurisdiction to order disclosure to regulatory body — Meaning of paragraph 36 of Terms of Service for Doctors, Schedule 2 to the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 1992 as amended — Whether obligation to deliver up records for regulatory or merely administrative purposes
R (on the application of Holmes and others) v General Medical Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 366
Judicial Review — The Medical Act 1983, sections 36(1)(b), 42(1) and (2) — The General Medical Council Preliminary Proceedings Committee and Professional Conduct Committee (Procedure) Rules 1988, rules 6(3) and 6(4) — The 4-tier approach to consideration of a complaint of serious professional misconduct — Whether the granting of permission for judicial review without explicit comment on issues of delay precluded consideration of those issues at the substantive hearing
Simms v Birmingham Health Authority
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 382
Clinical negligence action — Multi-track case management conference — Parties” agreed order for separate experts refused — Court's order for joint expert — Whether parties should be allowed separate experts
Johnson v Secretary of State for Health
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 385
Jurisdiction of the Dental Service Committee at first instance, and the Secretary of State on appeal, to hear a professional disciplinary complaint where there existed breaches of the procedural requirements for bringing such complaints on the part of the Family Practitioner Committee — Fairness of the Committee hearing and the hearing on appeal — Extent to which compliance with procedural rules for bringing complaints constitutes a condition precedent to such proceedings or a requirement which may, if breached, go towards the issue of the fairness or otherwise of the proceedings
R v Secretary of State for Health and Social Security ex parte Lai
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 417
Judicial Review — National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) Regulations 1974 — Reference to Dental Service Committee of allegations of breach by dentist of terms of service — Whether reference which included time-barred allegations was a nullity such that Dental Service Committee acted without jurisdiction — Whether references by Family Practitioner Committee validly made under regulation 6(6)(a)
R v Sec of State for Social Services ex parte Gordon
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 422
General medical practitioner — National Health Service terms of service — Complaint of breach out of time — Determination of jurisdiction issue
Ghosh v General Medical Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 433
General Medical Council — Professional Conduct Committee — Whether or not the procedure for dealing with misconduct charges meets the fair trial requirements of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Barros D'Sa v University Hospital Coventry
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 442
Contract of employment — Allegations of misconduct — Contractual disciplinary procedure — Initial investigation and findings by Inquiry Panel — Whether subsequent disciplinary hearing imposing sanctions entitled to consider matters not investigated by Panel — Purpose of the procedural code — Fairness to the practitioner
R (C) v Mental Health Review Tribunal
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 450
Mental Health Act 1983 — Mental Health Review Tribunal Rules 1983 — Article 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights — Lawfulness of a fixed eight week delay to a tribunal hearing — Whether eight weeks represents speedy determination of lawfulness of detention
Farrell v Avon Health Authority
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 458
Negligence — Nervous shock — Psychiatric injury — Recoverability of damages in negligence — Whether damages recoverable by father mistakenly told his new born baby had died — Whether father a “primary victim” — Whether sufficient for “primary victim” simply to prove reasonable foreseeability of psychiatric injury — Whether reasonable foreseeability dependent on knowledge of defendant at time — Whether question of foreseeability can be informed by expert evidence — Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
R (Wright) v Sec of State for the Home Department
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 478
Judicial review — Death in custody — Arguable breach of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights — Requirement to hold public investigation — Requirements of a public investigation
Preiss v The General Dental Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 491
Appeal by dentist from finding of serious professional misconduct and suspension by Professional Conduct Committee of the General Dental Council — Whether dental disciplinary system in breach of Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights — Whether breach of Professional Conduct Committee (Procedure) Rules 1984 — Nature of appeal to Privy Council — Meaning of serious professional misconduct — Whether admonition an available penalty
Webb v Barclays Bank plc & anor
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 500
Causation — Negligent medical treatment aggravating injuries caused by employer — Legal test for breaking the chain of causation — Loss of a chance — Requirement for claimant to give oral evidence as to what she would have done if properly advised — Apportionment
Geoffrey Hardaker v Newcastle Health Authority & anor
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 512
Diver suffering “bends” — Hospital not providing decompression chamber — Resources — Duties pending transfer to police decompression chamber — System of transfer — Police providing decompression chamber without oxygen facilities — Extent of duty voluntarily assumed — Delay in transfer causing loss of opportunity of better outcome of treatment — Lost chance less than 50 per cent not amounting to damage
R v General Medical Council ex p Nicolaides
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 525
Judicial Review — Apparent bias of tribunal — Natural Justice — Applicability of Article 6
Ruff v The Royal Victoria Infirmary & anor
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 530
Assessment of damages — Life expectation — Relative weight to be accorded to clinical assessment of individual patient and statistical data regarding cohort to which patient belongs — Whether in cases of fixed life expectation multiplier to be discounted only for accelerated receipt or further to reflect risk of mortality within fixed period
R (Madan) v General Medical Council
[2001] Lloyd's Rep Med 539
Appeal under section 41A of the Medical Act 1983 — Order of the Interim Orders Committee (“IoC”) of the General Medical Council — Suspension of medical practitioner's registration — Application of Article 6 European Convention on Human Rights to hearings before the IoC — Criteria to be considered before suspension — Circumstances to be taken into account and issue of proportionality