05/05/2025
Bevan Brittan provides high quality, comprehensive advice to the NHS, independent healthcare sector and local authorities. This update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in health and social care work, both in the NHS, independent sector and local authorities which have been published in the last month.
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Bevan Brittan Free Training Events
There is no charge for any of the events listed below
Webinars
These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions. You can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. Please contact Claire Bentley.
Corporate Manslaughter - recent case analysis and implications - 24/07/2025 12:30 - 13:30
Inquest Update - 18/09/2025 12:30 - 13:30
Please note that registration for each webinar will close one hour before the webinar starts, so please do ensure you have booked your place in advance to guarantee attendance.
Acute and emergency care
Publications/guidance
Urgent and emergency care plan 2025/26. This plan sets out how urgent and emergency care can be improved, with a focus on getting patients out of corridors, keeping more ambulances on the road, and enabling those ready to leave hospital to do so as soon as possible.
Mental Maintenance at North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust: a proactive approach to staff mental health. The North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) provides emergency medical and patient transport services to a population of 2.7 million people in the North East region, employing over 3,400 staff members. Exposure to traumatic events, the demands of shift working and an uncertainty of what’s in store each day, can impact ambulance staff mental health. This case study sets out how NEAS created a campaign to provide proactive staff mental health support.
News
Emergency workers to be better protected from racial abuse. Emergency workers will be better protected from violence and abuse when visiting homes as the government introduces new laws to support frontline staff.
New ambulances and faster emergency care for patients next winter. Patients will receive better, faster and more appropriate emergency care as the government sets out reforms to shorten waiting times in A&E.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around acute and emergency issues please contact Claire Bentley.
Children and young people
Publications/Guidance
Child death reviews: forms for reporting child deaths. Forms to help child death overview panels (CDOPs) assess the causes of a child’s death as part of the child death review process.
Domestic abuse homicides. Women’s Aid has published its third child homicides report focusing on children who have been killed by a parent who was a perpetrator of domestic abuse, in circumstances relating to child contact in England and Wales. The report outlines the stories of 19 children following a review of child safeguarding practice reviews published between 2015 and 2024. Key themes explored in the report include: recognising children’s experiences; professionals’ understanding of coercive and controlling behaviour; understanding child contact as a tool to manipulate professionals; and supporting non abusive parents. The report highlights the need for a culture shift in the response to domestic abuse from professionals involved in child contact arrangements and recommendations include calls for legislative change to repeal the presumption of parental involvement.
Child safeguarding incidents. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has published an independent report evaluating the impact of the Panel’s work to support local safeguarding partners in England to learn from incidents where children have died or been seriously harmed because of abuse or neglect. The research, carried out by IFF Research, looks at the Panel’s activities and awareness of their functions among stakeholders. Strengths identified include the Panel's multi-agency representation and reputation; a culture of learning and support; and informing and influencing national practice. Areas for development include developing actionable recommendations in national reviews and greater transparency in the decision-making process.
Children's social care. The UK Government has published a policy paper setting out its spending plans for the next five years. In relation to children and families, key commitments include: investing £555 million in children’s social care over three years to promote earlier intervention and help more children stay with their families; providing £560 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to refurbish and expand children’s homes and foster care placements; expanding mental health support teams to all schools in England by 2029/30; expanding free school meals in England to all children with a parent receiving universal credit; and reforming the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system to improve pupil outcomes.
Vaccination in the UK: access, uptake and equity. This report assesses how and why vaccine uptake in the UK has stalled or declined. It outlines the evidence and recommendations to increase uptake of routine childhood vaccinations across three broad themes: access to services, improved data systems and strengthening public information, education and communication.
10 years of children's public health in local government: a series of interviews. To mark 10 years of children's public health being back within local government, the Local Government Association has commissioned a series of interviews with thought leaders from across the sector on their thoughts on the impact that has been made, and what more can be done to support children.
News
Domestic abuse. The NSPCC has published a news story on increasing contacts to its Helpline concerning domestic abuse. New data shows that between April 2024 and March 2025, the NSPCC Helpline handled 7,825 contacts from adults about domestic abuse, a 14% increase compared to 2023/2024. There was a 29% increase in concerns about coercive and controlling behaviour which contributed to this overall rise in contacts about domestic abuse.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Grooming Gangs: Resetting the Commitment to Protect Children - Deborah Jeremiah
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around children please contact Deborah Jeremiah.
Clinical Risk / Patient Safety
Publications/Guidance
Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape. Dr Penny Dash's review of patient safety across the health and care landscape in England, which was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care
National maternity investigation launched to drive improvements. The rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services will provide truth to families suffering harm and urgently improve care and safety.
Patient Safety Commissioner annual report 2024 to 2025. Patient Safety Commissioner annual report for the financial year 2024 to 2025.
Action Against Medical Accidents Impact Report 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025. An Action Against Medical Accidents report for 2024-25 details its achievements in supporting over 3,100 individuals affected by avoidable medical harm, influencing national policy, and championing safer, fairer healthcare. In 2025-26, it confirms that it plans to pilot the Harmed Patient Pathway with healthcare providers, expand its reach through a new website, and continue supporting the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety as its Secretariat to support efforts to drive improvements in safety and transparency across healthcare.
10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future. Sets out the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England.
Pressure ulcers: how to safeguard adults. How to respond to individuals at risk of developing pressure ulcers, prevent harm where they occur and raise a safeguarding concern.
Infected Blood Inquiry: recommendations for recognition, healthcare and patient safety. The Infected Blood Inquiry made recommendations to improve patient care and safety, and strengthen the voice of patients in the healthcare system.
Guidance to help regulators use new powers to protect the public. This suite of guidance aims to help regulators make best use of the new powers they will gain when their legislation is reformed. This follows a renewed commitment from the UK Government to take forward reforms to the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council. Reform of the remaining health care professional regulators is expected to follow. The changes are aimed at allowing regulators to be more agile and efficient in protecting the public. The three pieces of guidance cover: good practice in rulemaking; good practice guidance to support regulatory reform; and using accepted outcomes in fitness to practise.
Never again. Again: a review of health recommendations following a domestic abuse related death. This report examines the consistent failings of the health service to respond to domestic abuse, as identified across a review of domestic homicide reviews published in 2024. The report sets out the potential of the NHS to transform the response to domestic abuse and save lives.
National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Recovery beyond survival. This report is a review of the quality of rehabilitation care provided to patients following an admission to an intensive care unit. Based on 1,018 patients aged 18 years and over who were admitted as an emergency to an ICU for four or more days between 1 October and 31 December 2022 (and who survived to hospital discharge), this report covers a range of specialities and ward areas, and identifies areas for improvement.
News
World-first AI system to warn of NHS patient safety concerns. Pioneering AI technology will be developed to scan NHS systems to flag safety issues in real time and trigger crucial inspections earlier.
Health and Social Care Secretary speech at RCOG World Congress. Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting spoke at RCOG World Congress, announcing a national investigation into maternity and neonatal services.
Paula Sussex has been appointed Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Bevan Brittan Updates
NHS 10-Year plan - change begins? - Joanna Lloyd
Bevan Brittan Events
Corporate Manslaughter - recent case analysis and implications - 24/07/2025 12:30 - 13:30
How we can help
We are working with clients on formulating policies and making it easier to balance treatment with finite resources. We are helping with social care policies and day to day activities such as contact and isolation, human rights issues and life/death decisions. We are working on notifications of harm and death, RIDDOR, CQC compliance, judicial review, infection control law and grappling with the new regulations and guidance. For more information click here.
If you wish to discuss any clinical risk or patient safety issues please contact Joanne Easterbrook or Daniel Morris.
Digital Health
Publications/guidance
NHS App overhaul will break down barriers to healthcare and reduce inequalities. The NHS App will be transformed so it gives every patient information, choice and control of their own healthcare.
Infrastructure for innovation: getting the NHS and social care ready for AI. What infrastructure needs to be in place to ensure that AI can be used in the health and care sectors? Informed by conversations across health and social care with staff, suppliers, researchers and patients, our new long read considers what’s needed for not only the technical infrastructure, but also the wider environment and system capabilities.
Artificial intelligence use in NHS communications: insights, risks and recommendations for safe and effective adoption. This report finds that AI is beginning to reshape how NHS communications teams work and improve practice, but that access to tools and skills is uneven and clearer governance is needed to ensure safe and effective adoption.
News
10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future. Sets out the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England.
'Innovator passports’ set to accelerate cutting-edge NHS care. New 'innovator passports' will slash red tape so cutting-edge tech and treatments can be rolled out across the NHS quicker under the 10 Year Health Plan.
World-first AI system to warn of NHS patient safety concerns. Pioneering AI technology will be developed to scan NHS systems to flag safety issues in real time and trigger crucial inspections earlier.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around Digital Health please contact Daniel Morris.
Employment/HR
Publications/guidance
Immigration: Skilled worker visas - Thirty-Seventh Report of Session 2024-25. A Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) report on the skilled worker visa route makes recommendations including that: the Home Office (HO) should write to the PAC to explain how the labour market evidence group is working before the end of 2025; the HO should write to the PAC setting out the results of its evaluation of the skilled worker visa route; the HO and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should write to the PAC to detail the decision to end overseas recruitment for care workers; the HO should work with Government bodies to establish an agreed response to tackling exploitation risks and consequences; and that the HO should undertake an assessment of its approach to addressing compliance risks to identify gaps in its response, how to target its resources, and apply lessons from the care sector to other sectors; and that the HO should set out how it is improving its customer service.
NHS industrial action in England (2022-2024). Industrial action took place across the NHS in England in 2022-2024. This briefing looks at when and why action was taken and explains relevant pay deals.
Workforce Race Equality Standard: 2024 data analysis report for NHS trusts. This report enables NHS trusts to compare their performance with others in their region and those providing similar services, with the aim of encouraging improvement by learning and sharing good practice. It finds that one in eight senior managers in the NHS are from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds and shows that 12.7% of staff at very senior manager level are from these backgrounds – up from 11.2% in 2023. However, 80% of trusts reported that white applicants were significantly more likely than Black and minority ethnic applicants to be appointed from shortlisting.
Workforce Disability Equality Standard: 2024 data analysis report for NHS trusts. This report finds that disabled people are fairly represented on NHS boards and that candidates who declare their disability on applications are just as likely to be appointed to NHS jobs as non-disabled candidates. It finds that more NHS employers are also making reasonable adjustments that enable disabled staff to carry out their work compared to previous years, but disabled staff remain more than twice as likely to be performance-managed compared to their non-disabled colleagues. Disabled staff also experienced higher levels of harassment, bullying or abuse from managers and other colleagues.
Understanding doctors’ decision-making regarding migrating to the UK. This research focuses on the factors that motivate overseas-qualified doctors to pursue their careers in the UK or go elsewhere. With doctors known to be a highly skilled and mobile workforce, the research set out to better understand where the UK sits within the global market for their skills. By better understanding the motivations, expectations and perceptions of doctors who are migrating to the UK, the research can support workforce planners and policy-makers in their efforts to attract and retain a sustainable medical workforce.
Radiology and oncology workforce census reports 2024. These two reports reveal that cancer patients are facing dangerous delays to life-saving scans and treatment as the shortage of doctors threatens to derail cancer care across the UK. It finds that the demand for health care is growing faster than the workforce, while cancer doctors are leaving the NHS younger than ever before. The reports urge the government to act now to meet future demand, by training and recruiting more radiologists and oncologists.
News
Boost to mental health services from thousands of extra staff. Latest data shows 6,700 more mental health workers have been recruited towards government’s 8,500 target.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Immigration Reforms 2025: What sponsoring employers should expect this Summer - Tijen Ahmet
How we can help
We can offer support and advice on managing many workforce issues including flexing your workforce to respond to the pandemic, managing bank staff, redeployment, vulnerable groups, sick pay, leave options, supporting staff well-being, presenteeism, remote and home working, through FAQs, helpline or policy guidance and practical day to day advice.
If you wish to discuss any employment issues generally please contact Jodie Sinclair, Alastair Currie, Oonagh Sharma, James Gutteridge, Andrew Uttley, Joanna Burrows and Lee Carroll.
Finance
Publications/guidance
Balancing act: supporting finance leaders to deliver on short- and long-term priorities. This briefing, delivered in partnership with Newton, is the output from a series of engagements with NHS finance leaders. The engagements focused on the challenge of developing multi-year plans for long-term financial sustainability and improved outcomes at the same time as operationalising current plans and delivering on a tight financial plan for the current year. It summarises the sentiments and experiences shared during these engagements and provides practical tools and resources to support finance leaders.
Down payment or making ends meet? NHS financial pressures in the run-up to the Spending Review. Last year the Chancellor announced £22.6bn in extra NHS funding as a ‘down payment’ on the much-anticipated 10 Year Health Plan. This briefing, which sets out the state of health care funding in England ahead of next week’s Spending Review, shows that all of the £22.6bn is likely to be consumed by pre-existing spending pressures.
How we can help
For more information on issues around finance, please contact Claire Bentley.
Health Inequalities
Publications/Guidance
Health and Social Care Secretary speech on health inequalities. Wes Streeting spoke at Blackpool Football club on reducing health inequalities.
Landmark plan to rebuild NHS in working class communities. The 10 Year Health Plan will set out how the government plans to tackle inequalities in people’s health through fundamental reforms to our health system
NHS App overhaul will break down barriers to healthcare and reduce inequalities. The NHS App will be transformed so it gives every patient information, choice and control of their own healthcare.
Silence, sexism and stigma: the state of working-age women’s health in England. Women spend more years of their life living in poor health than men, including through their working years. This briefing explores how the burden of disease affects working-age women and men differently. It considers the health conditions and societal issues behind some of these differences, before discussing policy implications for a government focused on tackling rising inactivity due to ill health.
Rebuilding public health: restoring the foundations of prevention. This report states that public health in the UK must be revitalised if the government hopes to cut waiting lists and tackle health inequality. Diminished public health services alongside a decade of austerity and the Covid-19 pandemic, have resulted in greater levels of ill-health across society. The report puts forward a strategy for addressing the crisis in public health totalling 14 recommendations relating to funding and workforce.
How we can help
We have a multidisciplinary team advising NHS commissioners and providers on all aspects of tackling health inequalities, ranging from:
- advising on the new legal framework and compliance with the relevant statutory duties, particularly in the context of service reconfiguration;
- addressing workforce inequalities;
- taking action on patient safety to reduce health inequalities;
- the role of the Care Quality Commission in tackling health inequalities; and
- lessons to be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around health inequalities please contact Julia Jones.
Housing
Publications/Guidance
Loneliness is a public health crisis and neighbourisms should be part of the cure. This report draws on research into 54 communal housing models to argue that loneliness should be treated as a serious health crisis, one that demands a preventative, community-focused response.
It introduces the concept of ‘neighbourisms': the informal, everyday acts of mutual support within intentional, intergenerational living environments. These social interactions, from shared meals to casual check-ins, can help to mitigate the health risks linked to chronic loneliness, including malnutrition, heart disease and cognitive decline.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around housing please contact Julia Jones or George Riach
Information sharing/data
Publications/guidance
Accessing Health Records. House of Commons. Information for anyone attempting to gain access to their own, or somebody else’s, medical records.
Data (Use and Access) Act receives Royal Assent enabling NHS data sharing. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced that the Data Use and Access Act has received Royal Assent. The Act introduces a new data regime designed to enhance NHS efficiency by enabling real‐time access to patient healthcare information across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services, irrespective of the IT system in use. This measure is expected to save NHS staff 140,000 hours of administrative work annually, thereby allowing more time for patient care and speeding up diagnoses and treatments.
Reciprocal healthcare privacy notice. Sets out how DHSC and NHSBSA collect and use personal information as part of the process of providing reciprocal healthcare.
How we can help
Our specialist team brings a unique combination of experience and skill from across the health, social care, and local authority sectors to help you meet the wide ranging challenges faced organisationally as you deal with the various and complex legislation in respect of information law. That team understands the practical way those legal frameworks impact the range of issues faced, as well as the diverse nature of both public and regulatory expectation in relation to “personal data”, “data protection”, “freedom of information”, “access to health records” and wider “information governance”. As well as assisting your organisation in dealing with challenging requests for disclosure, we can also help to provide strategic advice in relation to policy and information security, as well as bespoke organisational training on key legal issues.
If you wish to discuss any information law and / or governance issues facing your organisation, and how we may help, please contact Jane Bennett.
Integrated Care
Publications/Guidance
NHS oversight framework 2025/26. This guidance describes NHS England's approach to assessing integrated care boards (ICBs), NHS trusts and foundation trusts, ensuring public accountability for performance and providing a foundation for how NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement. The framework sets out how NHS England will assess providers and ICBs, alongside a range of agreed metrics, promoting improvement while quickly identifying where organisations need support. See also.
2025/26 NHS oversight framework: what you need to know. To help build the foundations for the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan, NHS England has published a revised approach to the oversight of integrated care boards (ICBs), trusts and foundation trusts. This briefing provides a summary and analysis of this new oversight framework.
10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future. Sets out the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England.
Tackling modern slavery in NHS procurement: proposed regulations and guidance. Government is inviting views on the draft National Health Service (Procurement, Slavery and Human Trafficking) Regulations 2024 and accompanying guidance.
Quality impact assessment framework. This toolkit sets out good practice principles and guidance for undertaking quality impact assessments as part of the decision-making process for commissioning or planning, approving and implementing changes to new health and care services.
Model ICB blueprint. NHS England has shared the first version of the Model ICB Blueprint with integrated care board leaders. The document is intended to help ICBs produce plans by the end of May to reduce their running costs by 50%. It sets out an initial vision for ICBs as strategic commissioners, and the role they will play in realising the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan. This briefing provides a summary of the blueprint document, highlighting the aspects most relevant to trusts, and includes NHS Providers’ view.
Will the 'model ICB' strengthen or undermine system working? Is the commitment to partnership and collaboration in health and care alive and well or under threat? Chris Naylor and Anna Charles discuss the implications of recent developments.
A new operating model for health and care. This report describes how bodies operating at the health and care system’s five geographical scales – national, regional, systems, place and neighbourhood – could work together to achieve a more integrated and devolved health care model that delivers the government's three shifts. It argues that this must always start with communities, empowering them to be active agents in their own health and wellbeing and to be partners in the design of public services.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around integrated care, please contact Anna Davies.
Inquests
Publications/Guidance
CTJ adds chapter on trans people to Chief Coroner’s guidance. The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) has added a 19th chapter to its Chief Coroner’s Guidance for Coroners on the Bench with guidance on cases in the coroner’s court that involve trans people. The guidance outlines the legal obligations under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, including the criminal offence of disclosing protected information about Gender Recognition Certificate holders, as well as emphasising the need for sensitivity in post-mortem examinations and avoiding unnecessary disclosure of a deceased person’s trans status.
Bevan Brittan Events
Corporate Manslaughter - recent case analysis and implications - 24/07/2025 12:30 - 13:30
Inquest Update - 18/09/2025 12:30 - 13:30
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around inquests, please contact Amanda Wright- Kluger, Tracey Longfield or Claire Leonard.
Mental Health
Publications/Guidance
Cross border mental capacity frameworks. A joint information note from the Law Society of Scotland and the Law Society of England and Wales highlights key cross-border issues concerning adults with incapacity law. It is the first guidance of its kind in the UK and provides clarity on the core provisions relating to mental capacity and incapacity law in both jurisdictions. It also outlines the main differences between the UK and Scottish legal systems and important considerations for cross-border matters.
Independent mental capacity advocates. People who lack mental capacity can be helped to express their views by an independent mental capacity advocate service.
Oliver McGowan code of practice. Sets out standards for training on learning disability and autism for Care Quality Commission (CQC)-registered health and social care providers and their staff.
Cases
Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust & Anor v AX [2025] EWCOP 21 (T3). Application that AX, who is 38 weeks pregnant, lacks capacity and it is in her best interests to undergo a C-section.
AB, Re (ADRT: Validity and Applicability) [2025] EWCOP 20 (T3) Judgment concerning the validity of an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT)
News
Victims given a voice in Mental Health Tribunal hearings as new reform comes into force
Mental Health Bill: how legislation has changed under MPs’ scrutiny
Boost to mental health services from thousands of extra staff. Latest data shows 6,700 more mental health workers have been recruited towards government’s 8,500 target.
How we can help
We are experts in advising commissioners, providers and care co-ordinators on the relevant legal frameworks. We deal with complex issues such as deprivation of liberty, state involvement, use of CCTV monitoring, seclusion, physical restraint and covert medication. We can help providers with queries about admission and detention, consent to treatment, forensic service users, transfers, leave, discharge planning and hearings. We can advise commissioners on all matters concerning commissioning responsibility, liability and disputes. For more information click here
If you wish to discuss any mental health issues facing your organisation please contact Hannah Taylor or Simon Lindsay
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
Adult social care and the cost of inaction: government response to the HSCC. Government response to the recommendations made by the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) in their report on adult social care and the cost of inaction.
This time must be different: overcoming barriers to social care reform. This report sets out a plan to stop the increasing costs of adult social care by pivoting towards prevention. It argues that the government should focus on supporting independent and healthy lives through a right to live and age well, focusing on prevention and learning from previous barriers to change.
Building resilience in adult social care: learning the lessons from other countries’ experiences of Covid-19. This series of international case studies, together with a summary report, explores how France, Japan, Denmark and the Netherlands managed the social care challenges of the pandemic. The reports look at what helped and hindered responses in each country and how their systems have started to recover and prepare for future shocks. The summary report sets out the lessons that emerged prominently across the four case studies.
Hearing loss in care homes: a sector-wide response. With at least 80% of residents of care homes for older people living with hearing loss, this report brings attention to an issue that affects quality of life, safety, and care standards in residential settings. It outlines the ethical, clinical, and economic case for immediate action and offers a practical roadmap for improving hearing support in care homes.
How we can help
For ways in which we can help with Social Care issues click here.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around social care please contact Claire Bentley.
General
Publications/Guidance
Cancer in the UK: overview 2025. This report finds that over the past 50 years, the proportion of the UK population dying from cancer has fallen by more than a fifth. However, it also finds that while people are now less likely to die from cancer, more people are likely to get it. And due to the UK’s growing and ageing population, the actual numbers of both cases and deaths are rising.
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