My background
Articled, Richards Butler; qualified 1992. Nabarro Nathanson, 1992-6. Capsticks, 1996-2000. Joined Bevan Ashford as a partner in 2000. Partner, Bevan Brittan LLP 2004.

What I do
I head up a team of specialist regulatory lawyers working for a range of key regulatory bodies including The Law Society, the General Social Care Council, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Audit Commission and the Healthcare Commission.

My particular area of expertise is the state regulation of health and social care provision. I advise registration authorities on their statutory powers and duties when deciding on whether to take regulatory action against care providers. The type of provision I am asked to advise on spans the whole range of adult and children's services regulated under the Care Standards Act 2000 and Children Act 1989 including care homes, independent hospitals and clinics, children's homes, fostering and adoption agencies, boarding schools, child minders and nurseries. In addition to enforcement work, I advise on strategic and policy level issues relating to regulation.

My practice also extends to profession-led regulation, and I have advised the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, as well as the General Social Care Council in relation to the regulation of social workers.

Some examples

Care home – cancellation
This case concerned a care home with nursing. There were major concerns around the adequacy of nursing and personal care particularly in the context of pressure sore management.

An application to cancel the registration of the provider was made to a magistrate pursuant to section 20 of the Care Standards Act. The hearing was contested with both parties represented by Counsel. Surprisingly, the magistrate found that there was a serious risk to life, health and well-being at the care home but decided not to make an Order on the basis that there was an alternative procedure (slow cancellation). This was despite the fact that during the hearing Counsel for CSCI had dismissed the slow cancellation procedure as a viable alternative given it can take up to 12 months to come before the Tribunal.

As a consequence of the magistrate’s decision it was decided to place the home on daily monitoring. In addition, the following day a Notice of Proposal to cancel the registration of the provider was prepared and duly served. Subsequently written representations were submitted on behalf of the provider but a decision was made by CSCI to adopt the proposal to cancel. An application for registration was submitted by a national corporate provider which was granted enabling the home to continue operating. The original provider did not appeal the cancellation decision to the Care Standards Tribunal.

Unregistered children’s homes – prosecutions
A registered provider of children’s homes was found to be operating a number of unregistered establishments for challenging young people in static caravans at a seaside resort and in a flat. A co-ordinated and simultaneous investigation of all the properties provided evidence used to successfully prosecute the provider, with reliance on aggravating features such as the employment of unqualified carers without CRB checks and a clear financial motive for carrying on unregistered. The provider’s registrations for three other properties were cancelled and an application for registration in respect of a fourth was refused, all on grounds that the providers were not fit to operate children’s homes. A CST appeal was issued but withdrawn. Two local authorities were prosecuted for aiding and abetting the primary offence by the provider on grounds that they knowingly placed vulnerable children in unregistered premises. The local authorities initially sought to defend the prosecutions but then accepted formal cautions in the alternative.

Contact me via neil.grant@bevanbrittan.com or on 0870 194 7820

Download vCard to Outlook.
To download the vCard to your Outlook, click on the vCard link, select 'open' then save to your Outlook contacts in the normal way.

Disclaimer  | Data Protection  | Search  | Site Map  | Contact  | Archive  | Procurement  | Media  | Terms of Business
© Bevan Brittan LLP 2008