The Claimant brought an action against the GP in negligence. That claim failed at first instance. Owen J found that while the Claimant would have avoided disability if he had been referred to hospital on the day upon which he was examined by his GP, the misdiagnosis/failure to refer was not negligent. Owen J relied upon the GP’s contemporaneous notes. It was common ground between the medical experts that if those notes were accurate as opposed to the account given by the Claimant’s mother, the GP was not in breach of duty.

The Court of Appeal held that Owen J had not made an error in relying upon the GP’s records and consequently the Claimant’s appeal was dismissed.

The Claimant won at first instance and recovered £5,000, the court finding that she should have been provided with thick gloves and that the Chief Constable was in breach of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, SI 1992/2966.

The Court of Appeal, dismissing the Chief Constable’s appeal, held that once a risk was shown to be more than de minimis an employer was under a duty to provide protective equipment. In this case, the risk was low but not de minimis and as a consequence the employer should have provided thick gloves. The Court of Appeal also found that dismantling the factory involved a wide range of tasks, not simply uprooting cannabis plants. The Claimant might at any stage have been asked to perform a task which risked her coming into contact with sharp objects. That once it was shown that an employer had a duty to provide protective equipment, there was an presumption that the employee would have used that equipment.

To read more please click the following link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22528082

The study, conducted at the University of North Carolina prenatal clinics questioned participants about pregnancy intention at 15-19 weeks gestational age, and women were classified as having an intended, mistimed or unwanted pregnancy. There were 433 women (64%) with an intended pregnancy, 207 (30%) with a mistimed pregnancy and 40 (6%) with an unwanted pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy was defined as both mistimed and unwanted pregnancies. Data were analysed for 688 women at three months and 550 women at twelve months.

Results show that postpartum depression was more likely in women with unintended pregnancies at both three months (11% vs. 5%) and twelve months (12% vs. 3%). The increased risk was highest at 12 months and indicates that this group of women have a long term risk of depression. When age, education level and poverty status were factored into the results, women with unintended pregnancy were still twice as likely to have postpartum depression at twelve months.

The authors conclude that unintended pregnancy may have a long term effect on maternal wellbeing and clinicians could consider pregnancy intention at antenatal visits and offer appropriate support both during and following the pregnancy.

Dr Rebecca Mercier, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of North Carolina and co-author of the research said:

“While many elements may contribute to postpartum depression, the results of this study show that unintended pregnancy resulting in live birth could also be a contributing factor.

“Unintended pregnancy carried to term may have a long term effect on women. Healthcare professionals should therefore consider asking about pregnancy at early antepartum visits to screen for unintended pregnancy as women who report that their pregnancy was unintended or unwanted may benefit from earlier or more targeted screening both during and following pregnancy.

“Simple, low-cost screening interventions to identify women at risk could allow targeted intervention when appropriate and could potentially prevent complications from future unintended pregnancies.”

Mike Marsh, BJOG Deputy Editor-in-chief said:

“Unintended pregnancy has been linked to poor prenatal care, high risk pregnancy behaviours, increased rates of preterm birth and low birth rate, poor social outcomes in childhood and increased medical costs.

“However, the relationship between unintended pregnancy and poor neonatal outcomes has been studied extensively, but less is known about the effect of unintended pregnancy carried to term on the woman herself. The findings of this study focus on the effects of unintended pregnancy on the mother and we can see a relationship between unintended pregnancy and postpartum depression.”

Miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy affecting 20% of all clinically recognised pregnancies.

This study, conducted at Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, aimed to identify the psychological impact following a first trimester miscarriage (less than 12 weeks of gestation).

Researchers compared the stress and anxiety depression levels between women who conceived naturally and those who required assisted reproduction. In total 150 women, 75 in the natural conception group and 75 in the assisted reproduction group, were monitored between 2008 – 2010.

Apart from mode of conception, there were a few demographic factors differentiating the two groups, with the mean age of women in the assisted reproduction group (37 years) significantly higher than that of women in the natural conception group (31 years). The duration of gestation at diagnosis of miscarriage was also notably shorter in the assisted reproduction group (average of 6 days less).

Interviews and two standardised questionnaires were conducted after one week, four weeks and 12 weeks post-diagnosis of miscarriage to determine mental well-being, distress and psychological response patterns after the event.

The researchers found that, despite their demographic differences, the results were highest (for stress and anxiety depression levels) after the one week follow-up in both groups.

While these levels were noted to decrease with time in both groups, the assisted reproduction group maintained significantly higher scores than the natural conception group at the four and 12 week follow-up.

Furthermore women in the assisted reproduction group were nearly twice as likely to experience significant psychological morbidity after miscarriage compared to those who had spontaneous pregnancies (9.3% vs 5.3%).

Dr Cheung Sze Yan Charleen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen Mary Hospital (Hong Kong), and co-author of the study said:

“Our results identified significantly higher stress, anxiety and depression levels in women who conceived after assisted reproduction, leading us to conclude that miscarriage resulted in greater psychological trauma to these women.

“Elevated emotional stress after miscarriage could therefore be associated with the duration of subfertility and the need of assisted reproduction.

“Timely support and intervention would be beneficial in the management of this group of women, as would further research into the potential long-term impact for adverse psychological outcomes after miscarriage.”

Pierre Martin Hirsch, BJOG Deputy-Editor-in-Chief, said:

“Though miscarriage is common, women are often unprepared for the loss and suffer a range of psychological reactions from grief, to anxiety and depression.

“The findings of this study emphasise the importance of early identification and appropriate management processes to help improve the psychological well-being of women who miscarry.

“Women should seek guidance from their obstetrician for their best treatment and support options after an early pregnancy loss.”

The Government have made it clear for some time that the Courts should not tolerate knife crime and their stance has been adopted by the Courts who are particularly heavy handed when it comes to exercising their sentencing options.

The frenzy that follows cases of this nature can lead to potentially innocent members of the public who are in possession of knives or bladed articles being subjected to over zealous policing in the face of media uproar.

It goes without saying that the interpretation of ‘knife crime’ will also include being in possession of a bladed article as defined by Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Under this Act any person who has an article to which this section applies with him in a public place shall be guilty of an offence.

Subsection (7) of the Legislation confirms a ‘public place’ as being ‘any place to which at the material time the public have or are permitted access, whether on payment or otherwise.’

Section 139 applies to any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed (except a folding pocketknife unless the cutting edge of its blade exceeds 3 inches.)

Regardless of this, there are a number of statutory defences if it can be proved that you had good reason or lawful authority for having the article with you in a public place. It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had the article with him:

(a) for use at work;

(b) for religious reasons; or

(c) as part of any national costume.

Sentencing on summary conviction can lead to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both on conviction on indictment it can lead to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years, or a fine, or both.

In addition to this there is extensive Caselaw with regard to the two elements that make up a crime (actus reus and mens rea) that can be relied on to provide defences to this offence and at HBJ&W have an outstanding success rate at defending such allegations from police station to Crown Court if necessary.

We are constantly mindful of the effect that such a serious conviction could have on an individuals future. It can affect your job, your life and almost certainly your liberty.

Effective and professional advice from the outset can dramatically effect the progress of your case. For more information on this and a plethora of other legal remedies give our Crime Team a call on 01633 262848.

This can cause a plethora of problems for their immediate as well long term future as they have to declare convictions to employers or in employment applications as well as potentially being named and shamed in the press!

There are alternative remedies to Court and one of those is the Caution/Conditional Caution.

Cautions and Conditional Cautions are not considered as convictions and if asked to disclose details of convictions by a third party they will not cause any embarrassment.

Conditional Cautioning occurs when an offender of (most commonly of recent or clean character) accepts an offence. It then enables them to be given an option to face rehabilitative and reparative measures without having to face the otherwise difficult court processes.

Conditional Cautioning is a statutory measure whereby enforcement can be made by the Courts for the original offence in the event of non-compliance.

In deciding whether a Conditional Caution should be given instead of opting for court action or a simple caution, what has to be considered is whether the imposition of specified conditions will be an appropriate and effective means of addressing an offender’s behavior or making reparation for the effects of the offence on the injured party.

Part 3 of The Criminal Justice Act 2003 encompasses the use of Conditional Cautions and is quite simply defined as:

‘A caution which is given in respect of an offence committed by the offender and which has conditions attached to it’.

The Conditional Caution may be administered by an appropriate person as stipulated under Section 38 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and is recognized as a discretional remedy available to the police and the CPS should they satisfy certain criteria. These are that:

1. The offender is aged over 18

2. There is an admission of guilt

3. There is considered to be sufficient evidence to charge the offender

The seriousness of the offence and the antecedent history of the offender are the principle considerations in an officer deciding whether a Conditional Caution is an appropriate remedy.

If a Conditional Caution is deemed as being appropriate the offender will be asked to sign a document confirming that they accept guilt, will comply with the conditions and understand the nature of the terms that they are accepting.

At HBJ&W Law, we understand that every individual who asks for our advice at the police station will have a unique set of circumstances which may or may not deem a Simple Caution or Conditional Caution as being appropriate.

Our Solicitors and Legal Reps are trained to a high standard in assessing whether this would be an appropriate remedy for the individual and provide comprehensive advice prior to going to interview as well as providing more insightful information on the Cautions and how this will effect an individuals future.

Our presence at interview is more likely to result in the right decision for the individual and we could actively assist you in ensuring that, where appropriate, Court measures are avoided.

Ensuring that you have expert legal advice at the police station is a key factor in your future. It is important that even if you do not feel you have committed a criminal offence you ask for a solicitor to be present in order to protect your legal rights – no inference will be drawn from your request and at HBJ&W Law we provide 24 hour expert call out assistance as soon as the police inform us that we are required.

Professor Don Berwick the new NHS Tsar wants to transform the NHS into the safest healthcare system in the world, stating that the service safety record should be on a par with the aviation industry.

Comparison of the aviation industry and the NHS shows that on average there is ONE FATALITY for every 287 MILLION PASSENGERS carried by UK carriers and the last fatality was in 1999.

Just one, the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust which only serves a population of around 300,000 people, of the 165 acute NHS trust’s in England (Excluding Wales, Scotland and the North of Ireland) have contributed up to 1,200 deaths due to substandard care. ONE FATALITY for every 250 PATIENTS. Statistics even the aviation authority of the Democratic Republic of Congo would be concerned about.

The Tsar who advised the President of the US in the “Obamacare” reforms and headed the Institute of Health Improvements in the USA for almost 20 years before being forced to resign has set his sights very high in regards to “Zero harm” in the NHS.

Will his reforms and aspirations for the NHS take to the sky and climb to the utopia of “The safest healthcare system in the world” or will we see NHS1 crash and burn over the plains of the Congo only time will tell.

The Department of Health have launched a consultation on legislation which would make professional indemnity insurance compulsory for all healthcare professionals, including nurses and midwives.

The consultation proposes that in the future, nurses and midwives will need to hold professional indemnity insurance in order to register with Nursing and Midwifery Council.

The majority of nurses and midwives are already covered by their employer’s arrangements or their own individual arrangements with insurance companies or professional bodies. It will be for each individual to ensure that they are covered by an insurance or indemnity arrangement appropriate to their scope of practice.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council would encourage nurses and midwives to respond to the consultation, which closes on Friday 17 May.

See the Department of Health press release for further details, including the full consultation document and the equality and impact assessments.

The accusations are of sexually inappropriate behaviour and the former Lib Dem councillor who has made them, said: “I have spoken to nine other women who were involved in this.”

The handling of this situation within the party and Nick Clegg’s reaction is undoubtedly causing debate among the public, but this story has brought to light the serious underlying issues of women’s rights.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is unacceptable and victims of sexual harassment should not be reluctant to make formal complaints, no matter how powerful they deem the harasser.

Having said that, the Metropolitan Police is working with party officials to establish whether any criminal activity had taken place and by allowing the police to do their job will ensure a fair trial.

Lord Rennard, who was also a key strategist and adviser to a succession of party leaders, said he was “deeply shocked” about the allegations and said they were a “total distortion” of his character.

Sexual harassment

It is difficult to come to one exact definition for sexual harassment, but it depends on how the recipient feels. It has been estimated that 50% of women in employment in the UK are affected.

Sexual harassment can take many forms:

Verbal
Non verbal
Physical

Can anything be done?

Try and talk to the person who is harassing you first, as they may not realise that you consider what they are doing or saying to be sexual harassment.

Tell them how their behaviour is affecting you and don’t let them shrug it off.

If you feel you cannot approach them in person, then you could try writing down how you feel and sending it in a letter or email.

It is a good idea to keep records of your actions in order that you may be able to present this to your employer or a tribunal as evidence.

If the issue persists then you should take the issue to your line-manager, a workplace representative or a trade union. If the person harassing you is your employer, then you can take him/her to a tribunal if:

The harassment continues after you’ve told the person to stop and you’ve reported the issue to your employer
The person harassing you owns the company
You are not satisfied with any internal measures.

At the stage when you feel you’ve exhausted in-house measures, you should approach a solicitor.

At HBJ&W Law Group, we have successfully dealt with civil litigation cases involving harassment in the work place.