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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has this week handed out the first fine to an NHS organisation for a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Until recently, the main concerns of mobile phone use in hospitals were the risks associated with the interference of medical equipment. This resulted in many NHS Trusts putting restrictions in place to prohibit their use. Some Trusts even enforced blanket bans across their hospitals. However, these concerns have been steadily allayed over the last few years as a mass of research demonstrates that mobile phones actually pose little or no risk to the majority of hospital equipment. Trust policies therefore now tend to adopt a more flexible approach allowing for the use of mobile phones on their premises, with the exception of a limited number of prohibited areas such as specialist baby and critical care units.
A report published today has again highlighted the regularity with which the Data Protection Act 1998 ("DPA") is being breached by public sector organisations. A report by Big Brother Watch details that between 2008 and 2011, 132 local authorities in the UK lost data in over 1000 separate incidents.
In this article, Ceri Catton examines the General Medical Council’s (GMC) power of disclosure and provides practical tips if you are presented with a request for documents by the GMC.
In November 2010, the Information Commissioner handed down the first monetary penalty under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). In doing so, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has given a very clear signal to all public authorities in relation to the priority that must be given to data security.
This update is relevant to anyone interested in recent developments in the dispute resolution field.
The Supreme Court on appeal from the Court of Appeal, has given an important judgment in RTS Flexible Systems Limited v Molkerei Alois Müller Gmbh & Company KG (UK Production) ("RTS"). This will be of relevance to parties who continue works after the expiry of a letter of intent but before a formal written contract is finalised, and to those who intend to rely on "subject to contract" and "counterparts" clauses in contracts.
In this article we summarise the facts and issues in the case, and provide some learning points to consider when dealing with these areas in the future.
There are many factors to address when settling any dispute, including the parties to be bound, dealing with any formal proceedings, payment provisions, the scope of the settlement, costs and interest. In this note we highlight some particular points to consider when settling construction disputes.