The Government has issued its initial response to the Francis Report of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. It sets out a five point plan intended to herald an end to failure and a call for excellence. This article gives a summary of what the plan will cover.
It is said that no news is good news. So interest in the Winterbourne case or the Heslop report is encouraging only because it identifies bad practice. Likewise, if litigation is a measure of the success of a particular state of affairs, the courts’ involvement in care packages for vulnerable patients is a sign that not all is well.
For CCGs, the prospect of taking on the mantle of litigation arising from care arrangement disputes may present a significant challenge. Some of the key issues are set out in this article.
Of the 290 recommendations in the Francis Report into the Mid-Staffs inquiry, many would have an impact on the role of PCTs. With their abolition now looming, this begs the question of what CCGs should do in response to the Inquiry Report as they take on the commissioning mantle.
The European Court of Human Rights has handed down its long awaited decision in four joined cases on religious discrimination in the workplace. The Court reached two opposite conclusions on similar facts relating to the right to wear religious symbols at work; and has also looked at balancing competing rights to religious freedom and equality of sexual orientation. Sarah Michael explains more.
Heavy snow is forecast around the country over the weekend with up to 30 cm expected on higher ground. While this may bring delight to children whose schools are closed, if you are an employer under a building contract, you may be wary of contractors seeking to blame delay on the current weather and claiming the extra cost of those delays under the terms of the relevant building contract.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement 2012 addresses the Government's review of PFI and we welcome the Government’s support for infrastructure projects as a means to reinvigorate our public services and infrastructure while creating jobs and driving economic recovery in the UK. In this article we examine a number of questions which naturally arise from the PF2 proposals.
We are holding a PF2 workshop on 17 January 2013 which will discuss these issues in greater detail.
The Report of the Laidlaw Inquiry dated 6 December 2012 sets out lessons learnt for the DfT from the collapsed InterCity West Coast Competition. In our previous alert Procurement - evaluation processes off the rails, which followed the cancellation of the competition, we set out our view on why procurement processes can go wrong and basic principles on how to get it right. Unsurprisingly (to us) the Laidlaw Report mirrors our own experience of what public bodies need to consider when procuring complex contracts.
The Court of Appeal has recently handed down a significant judgment in the case of Charles Terence Estates Ltd (CTE) v Cornwall Council [2012] EWCA Civ 1439, which shows a further tightening of the scope for public authorities to seek to rely on their own failings in trying to avoid liabilities that they might otherwise be taken to have agreed.
On 19 October 2012 HHJ Vosper QC handed down judgment in the case of R (on the application of RB) v (1) Devon County Council and (2) Devon Primary Care Trust. The case highlights the difficulty public bodies face in avoiding legal challenge, but shows that the courts will adopt a pragmatic approach where it is in the interests of good public administration to do so.
Reports published this week suggest that G4S, the private security firm tasked with keeping the London 2012 Olympics safe and secure, may be unable to supply all the guards it was contracted to deliver for the games. Just 15 days before the opening ceremony, Theresa May has asked the British armed forces to provide a further 3,500 troops to fill the feared shortfall.