Healthcare Law

Health minister Stephen Donnelly has denied that plans to legislate for exclusion zones around abortion clinics have been dropped. A spokesperson for the Department of Health had earlier suggested to the Irish Examiner that "existing public order legislation" could deal with protests outside healthc

Health law expert Dr Eimear Spain has been reappointed to the Psychologists Registration Board (PRB). Dr Spain is a senior lecturer in health law at the University of Limerick (UL). One of her key interest areas is in the field of law and psychology.

Pat Daly breaks down the HSE's complaints procedure in the context of increasing confusion and reluctance among families during the Covid-19 pandemic. Of late, my colleagues and I are receiving complaints from acutely distressed families about what they perceive as ‘lack of care’ of thei

A draft policy on the use of restrictive practices, restraint and seclusion in health and social care settings has gone out to consultation. The 91-page draft document aims to minimise the use of restrictive practices and has been drawn up in conjunction with both service users and health profession

The Department of Health (DoH) paid £32.8 million on clinical and social care negligence cases in 2019/20, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. A new statistical bulletin shows that £23.2 million was paid in damages in the year ending 31 March 2020, £6.6 million was paid in

Legal and medical experts have been appointed to Ireland's first national research ethics committees (NRECs) in the areas of clinical trials of investigational medicinal products (NREC-CT) and clinical investigations of medical devices (NREC-MD). A total of 18 members have been appointed by Health M

The High Court has granted the temporary suspension of a doctor from practice due to his actions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The doctor allegedly failed to refer his patients for Covid-19 testing and claimed that he would not administer the vaccine to his patients. Further, the doctor refu

Proposals to introduce a statutory duty of candour for healthcare organisations have gone out to consultation. Healthcare organisations and everyone working for them would be required to be "open and honest in all their dealings with patients and the public" under the proposed legislation.

Proposals to introduce a statutory duty of candour in the healthcare system will go out to consultation next month. Health Minister Robin Swann yesterday told MLAs that a 16-week public consultation would open on Monday 12 April 2021.

The High Court has determined that a Health and Care Trust did not act unlawfully after it reduced the level of social care to two profoundly disabled adults due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court said that the decision taken by the Trust to reduce care services from March 2020 was r

The High Court has refused an application to increase a compensation award for a boy who developed narcolepsy and cataplexy after receiving the swine flu vaccine. The court had previously approved the general terms of a settlement agreement in November 2020 between the boy and the defendants, but th

The Law Society of Ireland has urged the government to implement the recommendations of a major review of the management of clinical negligence claims. An expert group chaired by Mr Justice Charles Meenan published its final report, containing 17 recommendations, just before Christmas with very litt

Ronan Hynes, partner at Sellors LLP, calls for urgency on patient safety reform in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The brave and heart-rendering story of Linsey Bennett on the steps of the Four Courts last week brought back into sharp focus the utter human devastation of the CervicalCheck controvers

Two women have been granted permission to bring a judicial review over the length of NHS waiting lists in Northern Ireland. Solicitor Ciaran O’Hare of McIvor Farrell Solicitors is representing litigants May Kitchen and Eileen Wilson in the "first-of-their-kind" proceedings.

Karen Kearney, partner at Cantillons Solicitors, explores the issue of expert witnesses through the prism of a recent medical negligence case. I recently settled a medical negligence claim for a client which was one of the most difficult that I have prosecuted in my career. It involved two High Cour