Annie McBain says Prince Harry is right to highlight mental health issues
Anyone affected by mental health issues will welcome the high-profile support offered by Prince William and Prince Harry in the press this week, highlighting their own personal battles and society's...
View ArticleJudges agree realistic rate of return to protect the injured
In a landmark judgment in 1998 (Wells v Wells), the House of Lords stated that the purpose of an award of damages made to someone injured long-term in an accident was to "put the plaintiff in the same...
View ArticleWhy are British teenagers so unhappy?
In a stark report following a survey of half a million 15-year-olds, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found that British teenagers are more anxious, more likely to...
View ArticleJennifer Buchanan welcomes an initiative to improve the lives of children...
As part of a huge boost in funding for research into child prosthetics, the Department of Health has earmarked £750,000 for a project to bring together clinical practitioners, industry and families to...
View ArticleTVT mesh: the biggest health scandal of our time?
Thousands of women have been left in excruciating pain having undergone what was for years mainstream NHS surgery to cure incontinence, usually following childbirth.TVT mesh – or tension-free vaginal...
View ArticleBBC reveals shocking number of mistakes in NHS maternity units
At an inquest last week, I represented the parents of a baby girl who died in 2015 at Watford General Hospital. The coroner agreed that on at least four occasions, staff on the maternity ward missed...
View ArticleFixed costs: The end of patient justice
I was interested to read a letter from the Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), the charity for patient safety and justice, published in the Telegraph this week, asking the Health Secretary to...
View ArticleTo prevent mistakes, the government must not ignore the stats on birth injuries
The alarming figures revealed by the BBC this week detailing the number of mistakes routinely occurring in maternity wards around the country must be taken very seriously by the Government.Because of...
View ArticleSurgeon Ian Paterson's case proves private hospitals need proper regulation
Following the conviction last month of rogue surgeon Ian Paterson, I'm relieved to hear that the Royal College of Surgeons has rightly called for a review of the way private hospitals are regulated.It...
View ArticleChristina Gardiner highlights worrying similarities in baby death investigations
The news that police are to investigate the number of baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital draws worrying parallels with one of our own cases regarding substandard medical care provided at...
View ArticleFundamental errors in midwives training risks the lives of more babies
Alarm bells should be ringing throughout the Westminster offices of the health minister and his staff today, and they should not stop until urgent action is taken.The Times reported yesterday that...
View ArticleThe psychology behind admitting a fatal mistake
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine believe that better training in the social psychology behind how we're affected by making mistakes can help doctors to be more open when...
View ArticleWidow shares mesothelioma story in appeal for witnesses
The widow of a carpenter who died from mesothelioma in 2013 shared her husband's story with the press this week, including a personal photo of the couple in happier days.Diane Poole released the story...
View ArticleA plea to anyone running farm events
The Lancashire Telegraph reported this week that the firm behind the farm attraction where more than 30 children and adults were affected by E-coli has been liquidated to make way for a management...
View ArticleArti Shah highlights Cervical Screening Awareness Week with a device that...
To promote Cervical Screening Awareness Week (June 12-18), the charity behind the #SmearforSmear campaign has highlighted the alarming number of women in the UK who simply do not attend the free...
View ArticleFieldfisher supports the Royal London Trauma Cyclethon
To support the work of the trauma team at the Royal London Hospital, members of our Personal Injury and Medical Negligence team took part in the Royal London Trauma Cyclethon on 17th May, between them...
View ArticleAs litigation funding gets murkier, legal aid remains a beacon for families...
Lord Faulks QC, the Tory peer who quit as Minister of State of Justice after Liz Truss became the third consecutive non-lawyer to be appointed Lord Chancellor, flagged his concern in the Times...
View ArticleOutgoing prison ombudsman regrets a prison system 'in crisis'
In the sixth annual report published this week from the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, the outgoing inspector Nigel Newcomen said that the statistics on deaths in prison, combined with high levels of...
View ArticleRCOG highlights proof babies could be saved with better care
The good news is that maternity initiatives introduced by the government in 2015 may have begun to bite as the number of stillbirths fell for the first time in a decade. The bad news is that too many...
View ArticlePermission to appeal given in low level asbestos exposure mesothelioma case
72-year-old David Bussey sadly died from mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos while working as a heating engineer in the 1960s and up to 1980. He instructed Fieldfisher partner Caroline Pinfold...
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