In a busy 2018, our corporate team advised on a wide range of M&A transactions. Nationally we advised on deals worth more than £1.5 billion of transaction value for our clients and our sustained activ

With a rise in mental ill health among students, we examine the legal obligations on education institutions.

Modernising the Mental Health Act is the final published report from the independent review into the Mental Health Act (MHA). It includes 154 recommendations to the Government on how the MHA and associated practices could change to improve implementation and service user experience.

There have been calls for an independent regulatory review of the death certification system since the tragedies of the Shipman inquiry unfolded. This was further endorsed after the Mid Staffordshire inquiry. Accordingly, the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 made provision for the introduction of an independent ‘medical examiner’.

Idu -v- East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Emma Collins and Natalie Hardman attended the ASA’s conference which took place in Manchester this week, and featured presentations and panel contributions from industry experts. Guy Parker, ASA Chief Executive, unveiled and discussed the regulator’s new five year plan, entitled More Impact Online. The strategy, which aims to take a more proactive approach, comprises six strands, all of which were discussed during the day’s panel sessions:

NHS Resolution has today published its report following a year-long review into claims arising from actual or attempted suicide. The themes arising are unlikely to cause any surprises, however, the wide reaching recommendations to address those recurrent themes should be welcomed. The report is vital reading for all those who work in the mental health field, and also staff involved in managing inquests and dealing with serious incidents, as well as trust board members. There is a wealth of good practice highlighted throughout the report which all trusts will be able to learn from.

On 20 August 2018 the Royal College of Nursing published guidance for healthcare staff aimed at more effectively protecting and safeguarding vulnerable adults.

The Mental Capacity (Amendment) bill (the bill) has had its second reading in the House of Lords. The bill seeks to reform the current system of deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) with a new approach termed ‘liberty protection safeguards’ which focus on the individual. The bill has been developed from recommendations made by the Law Commission in its 2017 report, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty.

The sad case of Hillsborough victim, Tony Bland (Airedale NHS Trust -v- Bland [1993] AC 789), was the first case in which the withdrawal of clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (CANH) was authorised for a person in permanent vegative state. It held that withdrawal of CANH cases should be brought to court ‘at least for the time being and until a body of experience and practice has been built up which might obviate the need for application in every case’.

We were delighted to be joined by Rebecca Wilson-Crellin, midwife and clinical adviser, Leah McStay, Early Notification scheme lead and Beverley Hunt, safety and learning lead for the North of England, from NHS Resolution at our recent maternity investigations and safety seminar in Liverpool.

The issue of safeguarding is high on the public and political agenda, but has social care been given greater weight and have steps been taken to alleviate some of the pressures on the NHS?