Privilege of Statement

Linstead v East Sussex Brighton and Hove HA (QBD CLW 23 March)

In a medical negligence trial the claimant applied for disclosure of a statement made by a midwife employed by the defendants. The statement had been made at the request of the senior midwifery business manager in response to a letter before action from the claimant’s solicitors and had been sent to the defendants’ solicitors. The claimant argued that her right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 required that the statement be disclosed in order to allow proper testing of the midwife’s evidence.