DECEMBER 2019

The LCA held its inaugural Medico-legal Breakfast Club at Hempsons in Wood Street EC2V on 4th December 2019. The event was kindly hosted by Hempsons partner Gautam Chawla with guest Barrister Eliot Woolf QC of Outer Temple Chambers

Recent decisions on Consent from 2019 were discussed:

  1. David Price v CWM Taf University Health Board re whether arthroscopy was appropriate for arthritis;
  2. Lucy Diamond v Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust re mesh repair for abdominal surgery and implications for pregnancy;
  3. Marc Ollosson v Alan Lee re risk of testicular pain post vasectomy
  4. Mordel v Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust re screening for Down’s syndrome

Discussion points:

  1. The implications of departing from NICE guidance
  2. Montgomery decision did not support the proposition that a failure to warn of risk gave rise to a freestanding claim for damages
  3. Explanation of magnitude of risk with use of everyday words v percentages
  4. Informed consent for a screening procedure

Ellis Downes presented an unusual case where he had been instructed to defend the management of a case of placenta accreta which had been complicated by inadvertent removal of  the bladder. The case raised generic learning points for all specialties.

Discussion points:

  1. The value of SUI reports and how to address their findings in reports
  2. The significance of being managed in a specialist centre and how that increased the expectation of quality of care
  3. Sub-specialisation of Consultants within a specialty managing a complex case
  4. Reporting of imaging by a non-radiologist
  5. Assessment of risk of the eventual outcome in settling the Claim.

The Group were reminded regarding the recent Academy of Medical Colleges advise for Medical Experts.