This month’s news round-up is brought to you by Alastair Currie and includes the latest news on: TUPE (whether it is ‘static’ or ‘dynamic’); whistleblowing; changes to unfair dismissal as a result of the recent BNP case on politically motivated dismissals; details of new guidance following the recent Eweida case on religious discrimination; and details of new developments on collective redundancy, family friendly rights and settlement agreements.
In a follow-up to our recent alert on the report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry, Julian Hoskins discusses the practical impact of the report on workforce issues, in a Q&A with Carlton Sadler - the Bevan Brittan Senior Associate who led the team advising one of the core participants in the Inquiry, the Care Quality Commission.
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Lockwood v Department of Work and Pensions, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that an enhanced redundancy payment for older workers did not amount to direct age discrimination, when objectively justified by a strong social policy objective. In this case, the strong social policy objective was the provision of a 'financial cushion' for older workers that reflected the extra difficulties they experienced after losing their jobs. George Pennington explains more.
This article covers key tips on how to prepare a statement in order to best assist the Coroner in the context of an Inquest.
Decisions not to attempt resuscitation can generate a great deal of controversy. This article focuses on the competing tensions, guidelines and points of consideration in this complex and challenging area.
This article examines the legislative framework as well as setting out the questions and issues NHS organisations should ask themselves in order to comply with the Equality Act legislation.
Governance was a central theme of Robert Francis QC’s report on the failings at Stafford Hospital. While Foundation Trust boards and various regulators bore the brunt of the criticisms, the report also has implications for Foundation Trust governors.
It would be easy for local authorities to dismiss the findings and recommendations of the Mid Staffordshire report as an NHS problem. But the failure to resolve allegations of abuse in local authority children’s homes for more than 30 years, the recent Banstead care death and Robert Francis QC’s direct criticisms of local authority scrutiny of health services demonstrate that this is also very much a local authority problem.
This article looks at the key messages for local authorities.
As 1 April 2013 approaches and CCGs receive their authorisation, it is important for all CCGs to focus on what they need to do now to ensure they are able to be effective from inception. There is already a wealth of advice available from various sources, including the NHS Commissioning Board and the BMA. This article outlines some of the key areas of legal significance.