08/10/2025
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 by clicking on the links below..
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.
Children and young people
Publications/Guidance
Transitional safeguarding. Research in Practice has published a briefing on safeguarding young people as they make the transition from adolescence into adulthood, highlighting a disconnect between the safeguarding systems for children and adults. The briefing discusses the concept of ‘transitional safeguarding’ and sets out six key principles, as well as outlining challenges and enablers to developing transitional safeguarding approaches.
News
'Challenges' remain in police response to grooming gangs
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around children please contact Deborah Jeremiah or Callum Scott .
Clinical Risk / Patient Safety
Publications/Guidance
Research matters: enabling and sustaining a research-positive culture for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. This guide suggests actions executive chief nurses can take to help their organisation become a research-positive healthcare organisation with research sustainably embedded in everyday practice and professional decision-making.
Delayed diagnosis of cancer: a thematic review of general practice indemnity claims. This thematic review identifies three key areas for improvement: optimising diagnostic processes; enhancing communication within consultations and across the healthcare system; and empowering patients through increased self-referral pathways and escalation mechanisms. The report emphasises that many general practice consultations are safe, with GPs referring people on urgent suspected cancer pathways in record numbers. The analysis covers a comparatively small number of cases where there were identified failures in the pathway.
CHECK WHTETHER TO INCLUDE IT WITH JO E Costs of clinical negligence. With the cost of clinical negligence continuing to rise, and in response to PAC’s concerns, this investigation sets out:
1. long-term changes in the government’s liability for clinical negligence and the amounts needed to settle claims (Part One);
2. the drivers of claims volume and costs (Part Two); and
3. the factors that could affect the future cost of clinical negligence, including systemic pressures (Part Three).
News
Bevan Brittan Updates
Bevan Brittan Events
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
Implementation and scaling of AI in health and social care AI has the potential to transform NHS and social care services, but can providers adopt AI at the pace and scale needed to make a real change?
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
Active bystanders: promoting inclusion, civility and respect. Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Integrated Care System launched the Active Bystander Programme to address issues of bullying, harassment and discrimination in the workplace. By equipping staff with the knowledge, skills and confidence to intervene when witnessing inappropriate behaviours, the programme fosters a culture of respect, inclusion and psychological safety across the system.
NHS pay and pensions. This briefing outlines trends in NHS pay and pensions and explains how pay decisions are made.
Consultation
News
Resident doctors to strike for five days next month
Bevan Brittan Updates
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
How we can help
For more information on issues around finance, please contact Claire Bentley.
Governance
Publications/guidance
How we can help
For more information on issues around governance, please contact Claire Bentley.
Health Inequalities
Publications/Guidance
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.
Independent Health
Publications/Guidance
News
Faster care for thousands thanks to NHS use of independent sector. Hundreds of thousands of people are receiving faster care thanks to the government’s partnership with the private sector - free at the point of use.
Bevan Brittan Updates
How we can help
For more information on issues around independent health, please contact Tim Hodgetts or Julie Charlton.
Information sharing/data
Publications/guidance
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.
Inquests
Publications/guidance
Bevan Brittan Updates
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.
Integrated Care
Publications/Guidance
NHS Commissioning Responsibility: Who is the responsible ICB? Anna Davies covered:
1. The legal framework for determining the NHS commissioner
2. Out of area placements- when is responsibility retained?
3. Top tips for managing disputes
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around integrated care, please contact Anna Davies.
Mental Health
Publications/Guidance
Cases
KP (Termination of Pregnancy) [2025] EWCOP 35 (T3). Capacity and best interests decision concerning KP, a pregnant 19 year old diagnosed with cerebral palsy and Dissociative Identity Disorder
London NHS Trust v DT Court of Protection | [2025] EWCOP 36 (T3) Consideration given by the court as to whether it was in the best interests of a patient to be repatriated to another country for the purposes of brain stem death testing to be carried out.
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board v NN Court of Protection | [2024] EWCOP 61 (T3) | 30 Oct 2024 The Court of Protection penalised a health authority in costs for its delay in seeking authorisation for a treatment plan in respect of a woman who lacked capacity to decide whether to undergo a termination of her pregnancy. The court emphasised the need for timely decision-making in termination cases and observed that the authority's legal team should become involved at an early stage to advise on whether court orders were needed, and what exactly the court should be asked to decide.
Bevan Brittan Updates
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
Primary Care
Publications/Guidance
Delayed diagnosis of cancer: a thematic review of general practice indemnity claims. This thematic review identifies three key areas for improvement: optimising diagnostic processes; enhancing communication within consultations and across the healthcare system; and empowering patients through increased self-referral pathways and escalation mechanisms. The report emphasises that many general practice consultations are safe, with GPs referring people on urgent suspected cancer pathways in record numbers. The analysis covers a comparatively small number of cases where there were identified failures in the pathway.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any issues in primary care then please contact Joanne Easterbrook.
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
The state of health care and adult social care in England 2024/25. The report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care, and highlights where care needs to improve.
Adult social care finance report, England: 2024 to 2025. Official statistics on adult social care finance in councils with adult social services responsibilities, including information on expenditure and income sources across both long and short term care.
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
Major NHS update brings menopause into routine health checks. Menopause advice will be added to free health checks to help millions of women get the care they need.
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