11/05/2026
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.
Civil Procedure Rules, less common applications and recent decisions in the last 12 months Tuesday 19 May 12.30pm - 1.30pm. Nadia Whittaker from Crown Office Chambers will consider the following:
- Civil Procedure Rule changes in the last 12 months
- Less common applications such as strike outs and wasted costs orders
- Case decisions in the last 12 months that will impact on handling clinical negligence cases
Claims against Private Patient Units in the NHS. 9th June 12.30pm - 1.30pm In this webinar, Joanne Easterbrook will be joined by Andrew Bershadski, a clinical negligence barrister from 2 Temple Gardens will be discussing some of the issues that can arise from both a claimant and a defendant perspective when bringing a claim.
Employment Law Update - June 2026. 25th June 12pm - 1pm. 2026 continues to be a year of change for the employment law landscape with the phased implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025. With implementation well and truly underway employers need must be ready, ensuring compliance and mitigating risk in a rapidly evolving legal landscape. This session will look at the reforms that have already been implemented, discuss what is on the horizon for employers under the October 2026 phase of reform, including the new duties in relation to harassment, restrictions on fire and rehire, the (re)introduction of a two tier code of practice on public sector outsourcing, and extending Employment Tribunal time limits. We will also and look ahead at what is in store for 2027. We’ll also provide a update on key developments for employers who sponsor international workers. Our panel will also review key employment case law from the past six months, highlighting implications for your organisation and workforce strategy.
Psychiatry for Lawyers – An update on common conditions and treatments and recent cases. In this webinar Deborah Pyzer, Associate at Bevan Brittan, will be joined by Dr Boris Iankov who will discuss the mental disorders that most commonly arise in clinical negligence claims looking at:
- Diagnosis and treatment of psychotic illness
- Affective disorders
- Adjustment disorder and PTSD
- Medico legal issues in recent cases
Workforce Forum: Sexual Safety and Managing Patterns of Misconduct in Healthcare Tuesday 30th June 3pm - 5pm followed by a reception. Bevan Brittan invites you to attend our in-person Workforce Forum for an interactive Chatham House Rules panel discussion on the topic of sexual safety and the management of serial offenders in the health and care sector, aimed at senior leaders.
Watch on Catch Up!
Quantum Update for Clinical Negligence Practitioners . Dan Morris, Partner at Bevan Brittan joined by Eliot Woolf KC from Outer Temple Chambers.
Case Law Update – Mental Capacity Act 2005 - 23 April. Hannah Taylor joined by Rhys Hadden, from Serjeants’ Inn Chambers considering:
- Key case law and important updates from the past 12 months
- Any updates on the revisions to the Code of Practice to the Mental Capacity Act 2005
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 urgent care
Publications/Guidance
NHS experts deployed to tackle corridor care. NHS deploys specialist teams and expands urgent care services to tackle corridor care, cut waits and ease A&E pressure, targeting worst-affected trusts.
Mental health crisis care: legislative challenges in emergency departments. An interim report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), following two investigations launched in October 2024, has warned of a legal grey area around preventing vulnerable individuals in mental health crisis from leaving emergency departments (EDs) before assessment or admission. This ambiguity increases patient risk and creates difficult conditions for staff, concerns that have previously been raised during parliamentary scrutiny of the Mental Health Bill 2024-26, yet remain unresolved. HSSIB recommends that the Department of Health and Social Care urgently review the legal framework to address these legislative gaps, and that the Care Quality Commission works with stakeholders to produce a national position statement on existing legal powers for staff supporting mental health crisis patients in EDs who are not formally detained, to support safe, lawful decision-making in the interim.
Health Secretary gives address on NHS performance. Secretary of State delivers a speech on NHS urgent and emergency care at Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s (RCEM) Annual Conference in Birmingham
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around acute and urgent care please contact Claire Bentley.
Children and young people
Publications/Guidance
Cause for alarm: what can safeguarding data tell us about the challenges facing health and care services? Baroness Casey’s recent call for a national safeguarding board was another reminder of safeguarding’s crucial role across health and care, but it can often go under the radar. In this explainer, Rachel Hutchings describes what safeguarding is, examines how safeguarding concerns and enquiries have changed over time, and states why they should be a cause for concern.
Supporting young people to transition into adolescent and adult services. This guidance supports services to provide developmentally-appropriate care for 0 to 25-year-olds. It sets out proposed actions for integrated care boards, providers and clinical teams to enable safe and effective transition between services. If adopted by systems, this approach will improve continuity of care, health outcomes and young people’s experience.
Southport inquiry briefing. NSPCC Learning has published a CASPAR briefing summarising the phase 1 report of the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Southport attack by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana at a children’s dance club in Southport on 29 July 2024. The briefing focuses on the fundamental problems around how agencies understood and managed risk in the lead up to the attack. These fundamental problems include: the failure of any organisation or multi-agency arrangement to take ownership of the risk; poor information management and information sharing; and limited oversight and intervention around online behaviour.
New measures to better protect women and girls from FGM. The Government has announced measures to protect women and girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), including the Home Office reviewing the FGM mandatory reporting duty to ensure it is effective and supports professionals working with children to follow guidance on when and how to act. New national practice guidelines for FGM protection orders will be developed to identify girls at risk of being taken abroad for FGM, whilst the Crown Prosecution Service and National Police Chiefs’ Council aim to refresh their joint protocol to ensure investigators and prosecutors are better equipped to build strong cases from the outset.
The rate of referrals to autism services more than doubled over four years. The latest set of QualityWatch indicators, which track the quality of health and social care in England, have been published. One of the updated indicators is on access to services for autism. It reveals how the rate of referrals to autism services more than doubled for children and young people – as it also did for older adults – between January 2022 and December 2025. The same indicator also shows how the rate of autism referrals differed over that time between males and females.
Child deaths. NSPCC Learning has published an updated statistics briefing on child deaths due to abuse or neglect. This briefing looks at what data is available; how best to use it; and what the statistics can tell us about child deaths, child abuse and neglect in the UK. NSPCC Learning’s series of statistics briefings aim to help people and the organisations they work for make evidence-based decisions about how best to meet the needs of children.
Access to healthcare. NSPCC Learning has published a Helplines insight briefing exploring young people’s experiences of healthcare waiting lists, drawing on over 1,200 Childline counselling sessions and more than 700 NSPCC Helpline contacts in 2024/25. The briefing highlights how extended delays for mental health, neurodevelopmental and physical health support can worsen young people’s conditions, lead to harmful coping strategies, disrupt education, and put a strain on personal relationships. It also emphasises the importance of recognising early signs of distress and ensuring that young people waiting for specialist treatment have access to ongoing interim support.
Child neglect. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has published a thematic analysis examining multi-agency responses to child neglect in cases of serious harm or death in England. The paper draws on a literature review, and analysis of 100 rapid reviews and 34 child safeguarding practice reviews. It explores the prevalence and impact of neglect; how definitional ambiguity delays interventions and contributes to fragmented responses; systemic barriers; the relationship between poverty and neglect; and children’s lived experiences. The literature review looks at the nature and impacts of child neglect, exploring neglect across the childhood spectrum, as well as protective and risk factors. The Panel has also produced an animation highlighting key learning from the analysis.
Crime and Policing Act 2026. The Crime and Policing Bill received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and has now become law. Measures introduced in the new Act to protect children and young people include: the introduction of a new duty to report child sexual abuse; a standalone offence of child criminal exploitation; and criminalising the making, adapting, supplying or offering to supply AI ‘nudification tools’. Different parts of the Act apply to different parts of the UK.
Safeguarding incidents. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has published its annual report on serious child safeguarding incidents in England. Drawing on evidence from rapid reviews and the Panel’s national programme of work, the report aims to provide a system wide picture of where children are most at risk, the complex circumstances many families face, and the improvements needed to strengthen safeguarding practice. The report examines learning from serious incidents notified to the Panel between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 involving 360 children who died or were seriously harmed due to abuse or neglect. Of the 274 rapid reviews considered, 47% involved the death of a child, 60% included neglect as a factor and 51% included domestic abuse. Key themes identified include: babies under one were most affected; many children faced complex, overlapping challenges; and strong multi agency working is critical to reducing risk.
Legislation
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. An Act to make provision about the safeguarding and welfare of children; about support for children in care or leaving care; about regulation of care workers; about regulation of establishments and agencies under the Care Standards Act 2000 Pt 2; about employment of children; about breakfast club provision and school uniform; about allergy safety in schools; about guidance relating to use of mobile phones and other interactive communication devices in schools; about attendance of children at school; about regulation of independent educational institutions; about inspections of schools and colleges; about teacher misconduct; about Academies and teachers at Academies; repealing the Education Act 2002 s.128; about school places and admissions; about establishing new schools; about preventing or restricting access by children to internet services; about the age of consent in relation to processing of a child's personal data in relation to information society services; and for connected purposes.
Cases
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v GH [2026] EWHC 1064 (Fam) The court made declarations under its inherent jurisdiction that CAR-T cell therapy was lawful and in the best interests of a 15-year-old child suffering from relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, where the uncontested medical evidence was that the treatment was the child's only chance of cure.
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
DHSC accepts PAC recommendations on clinical negligence costs. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published its response to the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) January 2026 report on clinical negligence costs, accepting the committee's recommendation to provide an operational plan for tackling rising costs by Autumn 2026. The PAC had concluded that DHSC had failed to address increasing costs despite repeated warnings. Clinical negligence, defined as a breach of duty of care causing patient harm, gives rise to legal liability for NHS bodies, with compensation and associated legal costs managed through indemnity schemes administered by NHS Resolution, which covers NHS trusts, foundation trusts and general practitioners in England, while private providers are generally responsible for their own claims. Drawing on evidence from the National Audit Office, the report noted that total payments for clinical negligence rose from approximately £0.6bn in 2006–07 to £3.1bn in 2024–25 and are expected to continue increasing, placing pressure on NHS finances. The government acknowledged concerns regarding both the financial impact and the experience of patients navigating the claims process and confirmed its commitment to reforms to address these issues.
Safety management systems: NHS England position statement. The Infected Blood Inquiry (2024), the 10 Year Health Plan for England and the Department of Health and Social Care’s Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape (2025) have all highlighted the need for more systematic approaches to safety management in healthcare. This statement summarises NHS England’s position on the potential for safety management systems to improve patient safety.
Framework agreement between DHSC and NHS Resolution: 2026 to 2029. Describes the working relationship between the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Resolution.
UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Module 4: Vaccines and therapeutics. A report by Baroness Hallett, Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, on the vaccines and therapeutics programmes, has found that despite the urgency of the task and the speed at which vaccines were developed, the steps taken by the Government and regulatory bodies did not compromise the UK’s safety standards and that these programmes were "two of the success stories of the pandemic". It adds that government and health services must now rebuild public trust in vaccines. Its recommendations include: establish a pharmaceutical expert advisory panel; produce targeted vaccination strategies and communications; improve monitoring and evaluation of vaccine uptake and delivery; facilitate regulatory bodies’ access to healthcare records; and reform the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Government response to consultation on changes to the infected blood compensation scheme. A Cabinet Office Command Paper summarises the consultation responses on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme, and sets out the Government's response. It outlines changes which will be made to the scheme through legislation, inlcluding: a new supplementary route award for those eligible for special category mechanism (SCM); a new Level 2B infection severity band for those treated with interferon; removal of the 25% deduction for past care for those continuing support scheme payments; a 50% uplift to injury awards for children and siblings affected under 18, bereaved parents whose infected child died under 18, and bereaved partners; and additional compensation for those treated for a bleeding disorder in the UK before 1986.
The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme feedback mechanism. In light of recommendations made by the Infected Blood Inquiry in its Additional Report on Compensation, Cabinet Office and Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) guidance outlines a new route for the public to raise concerns with the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The new route, whilst not affecting or replacing existing IBCA and Cabinet Office engagement and correspondence routes, builds on the approach that both organisations have taken to date. From 14 April 2026, concerns can be sent to feedbackandconcerns@ibca.org.uk. The Cabinet Office and IBCA will publish quarterly summaries of feedback received on the scheme design and delivery, and any action being taken as a result.
The future of Freedom to Speak Up. Following the Dash review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, the government has agreed that the National Guardian’s Office will close at the end of June 2026. From 1 July 2026, NHS England will deliver some activities previously undertaken by the National Guardian’s Office, and healthcare organisations will take on greater responsibility and accountability for embedding effective Freedom to Speak Up arrangements. This document sets out the revised responsibilities for Freedom to Speak Up across the NHS.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). Our strategy: 2026 to 2031. The PHSO’s new five-year strategy is built around three priorities: driving public service improvement; improving user experience; and raising awareness and trust. The strategy sets out how the PHSO will take a more active role in using complaints data and evidence to identify risks, prevent harm and strengthen accountability across the NHS and government.
Still lost in the system: the urgent need for better NHS admin. NHS admin plays a central role in shaping how people experience and perceive the NHS. A year on from a December 2024 poll this research, published with Healthwatch and National Voices, shows no improvement in people’s experiences of NHS admin. The findings point to a major opportunity for government and NHS leaders to act.
Complaints about the NHS in England. - Latest from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
News
NHS overhauls clinical standards to reduce maternal deaths. NHS England has announced new clinical standards for all maternity services to reduce maternal deaths. These measures, fully rolling out by March 2027, will require: early venous thromboembolism risk assessment before the first antenatal appointment; faster access to thromboprophylaxis for high-risk women; specialist epilepsy support in pregnancy; routine mental health assessment; and earlier escalation of obstetric haemorrhage. Progress for each standard must be reported to trust boards, with escalation to regional and national levels if local delivery falls short of plans.
Bevan Brittan Updates
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Where Are We Now? - Dan Morris
Bevan Brittan Events
Civil Procedure Rules, less common applications and recent decisions in the last 12 months Tuesday 19 May 12.30pm - 1.30pm. Nadia Whittaker from Crown Office Chambers will consider the following:
- Civil Procedure Rule changes in the last 12 months
- Less common applications such as strike outs and wasted costs orders
- Case decisions in the last 12 months that will impact on handling clinical negligence cases
Claims against Private Patient Units in the NHS. 9th June 12.30pm - 1.30pm In this webinar, Joanne Easterbrook will be joined by Andrew Bershadski, a clinical negligence barrister from 2 Temple Gardens will be discussing some of the issues that can arise from both a claimant and a defendant perspective when bringing a claim.
Psychiatry for Lawyers – An update on common conditions and treatments and recent cases. In this webinar Deborah Pyzer, Associate at Bevan Brittan, will be joined by Dr Boris Iankov who will discuss the mental disorders that most commonly arise in clinical negligence claims looking at:
- Diagnosis and treatment of psychotic illness
- Affective disorders
- Adjustment disorder and PTSD
- Medico legal issues in recent cases
Workforce Forum: Sexual Safety and Managing Patterns of Misconduct in Healthcare Tuesday 30th June 3pm - 5pm followed by a reception. Bevan Brittan invites you to attend our in-person Workforce Forum for an interactive Chatham House Rules panel discussion on the topic of sexual safety and the management of serial offenders in the health and care sector, aimed at senior leaders.
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.
Commissioning and Integrated Care
Publications/Guidance
Neighbourhood health centre guidance for regions and integrated care boards. This guidance is both a statement of policy intent and a practical planning instruction for neighbourhood health centre (NHC) development in the current planning period. It sets out the strategic framework for how integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England regions, working with providers, should identify and develop NHC schemes to support neighbourhood health: the archetypes to consider, estate planning, pipeline development and funding routes. The guidance also instructs ICBs and NHS England regions on the planning work now required to develop a coherent pipeline of NHC schemes.
Neighbourhood health centres: design and performance specification. This specification supports the planning and delivery of new-build neighbourhood health centres. It is not a detailed technical rulebook, but a tool for consistent planning and design by providing a common starting point for local systems to develop designs that reflect community needs while remaining aligned with national policy.
Minimum standards for keyworking services for autistic children and young people and children and young people with a learning disability. These minimum standards support integrated care boards (ICBs) as they commission keyworking services for autistic children and young people and children and young people with a learning disability who are at risk of an inpatient mental health hospital admission or who are currently in an inpatient setting.
Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board. A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report discusses a complaint that the Integrated Care Board (ICB) policy not to routinely fund female sterilisation is not based on relevant evidence, guidelines, research and consultation, and is creating health inequalities for women. It recommends that the ICB should explain: the next steps in its review of the policy statement on female sterilisation, including what will happen, when that will happen, and how long it will take before the ICB can agree and adopt its revised policy statement; and what it will do to ensure that the failings will not be repeated, and that its policy statement will be consulted on.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around commissioning or integrated care, please contact Anna Davies or Kathryn Stewart
Digital Health
Publications/guidance
Innovation, economic growth, medtech and the NHS: From strategy to delivery. Recent national plans aim to link NHS innovation with economic growth, yet progress remains slow. This analysis from the Kings Fund highlights how the NHS can better support innovation through renewed innovation zones, stronger incentives and new models for spread and scale.
Health and digital literacy survey 2025/26. This report looks at actions taken by health organisations on health and digital literacy. The number of organisations with a health literacy policy in place stood at 26% with 15% in development – 41% in total compared to a total of 33% in 2023. This is progress since 2019 when the number of organisations with a policy stood at just 13%. However, progress is slower in the NHS where the total stands at 30% compared to 47% in the charity sector. It also finds that the number of organisations assessing the equalities impact of digital services was 68%, down from 80% in 2022/3. Please note that the full report is available to members only.
Care on hold: why digital-first GP access risks excluding older people. This report finds that one in three people aged 75 and over can only get to see their doctor if they book digitally, and the same proportion feel they are cut off from care. With nearly 90% of older people still trying to make appointments by phone or in person, Re-engage believes many of them are being cut off from their doctor, which risks increasing their loneliness and isolation. The report calls on UK governments to make accessing GP appointments easier for older people as many practices continue to insist on online bookings only.
Artificial intelligence and evidence-informed policy: emerging challenges and opportunities. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping evidence-informed policy-making (EIP) in health by enabling faster analysis, synthesis and use of large and diverse data sources across the policy cycle. This discussion paper examines the intersection of AI and EIP, outlining how AI can support problem identification, policy design and implementation through enhanced data integration, predictive modelling, scenario simulation and adaptive feedback.
The 'stuck paradox': what we learned from leaders about AI and digital transformation
More human, less machine: helping leaders to harness digital innovation and artificial intelligence. Technology is rapidly advancing and new opportunities are surfacing every day. Yet a clear gap remains between strategic ambition and operational reality. Many leaders feel stuck – lacking the resources, capability or knowledge to make the right decisions, and without a clear map for leading teams compassionately and effectively through 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
International recruitment regional fund for the adult social care sector 2026 to 2027. Guidance on the up to £7.5 million international recruitment regional fund to support international care workers impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find new, sponsored employment.
Workforce Race Equality Standard: 2025 data analysis report for NHS trusts. The 2025 Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) dataset is the 10th publication since the WRES was mandated and it covers nine indicators. This dataset enables organisations 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 also provides a national picture of WRES in practice and developments in the workforce race equality agenda.
Skating on thin ice: the jeopardy of the ‘accidental leader’ in the health and care system. Senior Consultants, Alistair Thomson and Jeremy Cox, discuss how clinical leadership in the NHS often emerges by accident, with many clinicians across medical, nursing, AHP and research roles stepping into leadership without formal preparation or training.
Independent prescribing in the UK: Workforce ambitions and implementation challenges. Health professionals such as nurses, pharmacists and AHPs who can prescribe medicines, known as independent prescribers, are a critical and growing part of the NHS workforce and key to shifting care into the community. However, this Nuffield report finds current arrangements fall short, with limited planning, inconsistent access to training and supervision, and gaps in regulation, oversight and data.
International recruitment regional fund for the adult social care sector 2026 to 2027. This guidance is for eligible regional and sub-regional partnerships that deliver the international recruitment regional fund. It sets out the aims of the fund and the conditions for partnerships to access the grant. One of the main aims of the fund in the 2026 to 2027 financial year is to support international care workers impacted by sponsor licence revocations (displaced workers) into new ethical employment as quickly as possible. It also aims to proactively engage with adult social care providers to encourage recruitment of displaced workers and promote ethical recruitment practices.
Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Fifty-Fourth Report. Recommendations and observations from the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on doctors’ and dentists’ pay in the United Kingdom.
Boost for thousands of aspiring health professionals from deprived areas. New measures to tackle inequality of opportunity and breakdown barriers to healthcare careers.
Decent and agile flexible working: practical options for managers. This resource supports managers in implementing decent and agile flexible working to assist them in meeting key workforce challenges.
From crisis to chronic shortage: the future of adult social care workforce recruitment in the UK. This working paper examines the evolving immigration compliance pressures facing social care providers in the United Kingdom. These pressures have been situated within broader policy shifts around migration, workforce governance and post-Brexit regulation. Drawing on existing literature and informal stakeholder interviews, this working paper highlights how these administrative and ethical challenges have persisted and intensified for the social care sector.
Key target hit with 8,500 extra mental health workers in the NHS. Thousands more therapists, psychiatrists and mental health nurses are working in health service.
Bevan Brittan Events
Employment Law Update - June 2026. 25th June 12pm - 1pm. 2026 continues to be a year of change for the employment law landscape with the phased implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025. With implementation well and truly underway employers need must be ready, ensuring compliance and mitigating risk in a rapidly evolving legal landscape. This session will look at the reforms that have already been implemented, discuss what is on the horizon for employers under the October 2026 phase of reform, including the new duties in relation to harassment, restrictions on fire and rehire, the (re)introduction of a two tier code of practice on public sector outsourcing, and extending Employment Tribunal time limits. We will also and look ahead at what is in store for 2027. We’ll also provide a update on key developments for employers who sponsor international workers. Our panel will also review key employment case law from the past six months, highlighting implications for your organisation and workforce strategy.
Workforce Forum: Sexual Safety and Managing Patterns of Misconduct in Healthcare Tuesday 30th June 3pm - 5pm followed by a reception. Bevan Brittan invites you to attend our in-person Workforce Forum for an interactive Chatham House Rules panel discussion on the topic of sexual safety and the management of serial offenders in the health and care sector, aimed at senior leaders.
How to prepare your organisation for strengthened harassment and whistleblowing rules. - Siobhan Mulney.
Bevan Brittan Updates
MHPS: High Court provides guidance on handling conduct concerns against Doctors in Training - Joanna Burrows.
Doubling the Redundancy Protective Award: What Employers Need to Know - Kelly Simpson
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, James Gutteridge, Andrew Uttley, Joanna Burrows and Lee Carroll.
Finance
Publications/guidance
Bismarck versus Beveridge revisited: does the model shape the outcome? This report finds that there is no evidence that insurance-based healthcare systems outperform tax-funded systems. The analysis – spanning 22 high-income countries – concludes that switching the NHS to a European-style insurance system would not improve performance across measures of capacity, access, quality, efficiency and equity. The report says that health system outcomes vary far more within funding models than between them. It finds that the causes of poor NHS performance are not structural but practical, and sets out four areas in which targeted investment would make the most difference for the NHS.
How we can help
For more information on issues around finance, please contact Claire Bentley.
Health Inequalities
Publications/Guidance
Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England. The renewed strategy is aligned with the 10 Year Health Plan for England and sets out how women will have voice, choice and power in their health and health care.
Can the new women’s health strategy deliver the improvement in healthy life expectancy it has set out to achieve? The women’s health strategy includes an aim to improve healthy life expectancy in the poorest regions of England to “a minimum of 61 years”.
Healthy life expectancy trends in the UK: a watershed moment. This analysis examines how healthy life expectancy in the UK has changed over the past decade, how it varies across local areas and how these trends compare with other high-income countries.
Health inequalities in a nutshell. Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between different groups of people. They remain one of the most pressing challenges facing the UK today − and where you live can have a big impact on your years of healthy life.
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.
Information sharing/data
Publications and guidance
From blueprint to readiness: preparing for a single patient record. Single Patient Records (SPR) could give the NHS an opportunity to build a more connected and collaborative approach to care. However, this report finds that clinicians spend time searching for data, reconciling records, and repeating work, which impacts both productivity and patient outcomes. The report outlines how SPR might be implemented. It explores what “SPR readiness” means across technical, clinical, and governance capabilities and how to connect existing systems. It looks at where readiness can unlock productivity gains and reduce duplication and includes case studies, including frailty and cancer pathways.
NHS continuing healthcare: consent form for sharing information. A form to be completed by a responsible professional who is obtaining consent for sharing information, with guidance on how to complete it.
NHS continuing healthcare: giving consent for information-sharing. Guidance for individuals giving consent for information on their care and treatment to be shared with a third party.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Data Matters - April 2026 - Vicki Bowles
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 and guidance
Chief Coroner publishes revised guidance on coroner appointments, service deaths and Assistant Coroners. The Chief Coroner of England and Wales has published revised guidance (Nos. 6, 7 and 20) covering the appointment of coroners, the handling of service deaths, and expectations for Assistant Coroners. Guidance No. 7 replaces and updates the previous version dated 26 July 2013. The updates set out requirements for fair and merit-based recruitment processes run by Local Authorities, subject to the consent of the Chief Coroner and the Lord Chancellor, confirm the independent judicial status of coroners, and introduce a structured appointments framework, including an annual recruitment cycle for Assistant Coroners to support consistency and workforce planning.
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 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
Mental Health Awareness Week 2026. The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (11 to 17 May) is action to support good mental health. This briefing looks at action to support good mental health of individuals, evidence around actions to support population mental health, and government activity.
Preparing for the Mental Health Act 2025: insights from SCIE’s Advisory Groups: a sector-led view of what organisations need to effectively implement reform. The Mental Health Act 2025 marks a moment of reform in the sector – organisations will need to consider how to best implement the legislative changes that will move systems to an approach that strengthens autonomy, dignity, and least-restrictive practice. This report provides insights from the sector following a set of advisory groups led by SCIE, highlighting the immediate reactions, concerns and what support organisations will require to meaningfully implement the changes. From these important conversations, key areas of need emerge that provide a roadmap for developing practical and evidence-informed support.
Mental health crisis care: legislative challenges in emergency departments. An interim report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), following two investigations launched in October 2024, has warned of a legal grey area around preventing vulnerable individuals in mental health crisis from leaving emergency departments (EDs) before assessment or admission. This ambiguity increases patient risk and creates difficult conditions for staff, concerns that have previously been raised during parliamentary scrutiny of the Mental Health Bill 2024-26, yet remain unresolved. HSSIB recommends that the Department of Health and Social Care urgently review the legal framework to address these legislative gaps, and that the Care Quality Commission works with stakeholders to produce a national position statement on existing legal powers for staff supporting mental health crisis patients in EDs who are not formally detained, to support safe, lawful decision-making in the interim.
RCN insight and analysis of high caseloads in community mental health settings. This briefing provides an overview of evidence showing that high caseloads are now a widespread and escalating challenge in community mental health services across the UK. Drawing on a UK-wide survey of RCN community mental health nursing members, it highlights rising caseloads, growing time pressures, and workforce capacity gaps, and the impact these have on patient care.
Minimum standards for keyworking services for autistic children and young people and children and young people with a learning disability. These minimum standards support integrated care boards (ICBs) as they commission keyworking services for autistic children and young people and children and young people with a learning disability who are at risk of an inpatient mental health hospital admission or who are currently in an inpatient setting.
The rate of referrals to autism services more than doubled over four years. The latest set of QualityWatch indicators, which track the quality of health and social care in England, have been published. One of the updated indicators is on access to services for autism. It reveals how the rate of referrals to autism services more than doubled for children and young people – as it also did for older adults – between January 2022 and December 2025. The same indicator also shows how the rate of autism referrals differed over that time between males and females.
Cases
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust v AS & Anor [2026] EWCOP 15
Application by the NHS Trust for a declaration that it was lawful and in AS's best interests to continue risk feeding but with no insertion of an NG tube/PEG and to take a palliative care approach.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Mental Health Act 2025 - Practical considerations and how to prepare for changes from a local government perspective - Stuart Marchant
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
Care on hold: why digital-first GP access risks excluding older people. This report finds that one in three people aged 75 and over can only get to see their doctor if they book digitally, and the same proportion feel they are cut off from care. With nearly 90% of older people still trying to make appointments by phone or in person, Re-engage believes many of them are being cut off from their doctor, which risks increasing their loneliness and isolation. The report calls on UK governments to make accessing GP appointments easier for older people as many practices continue to insist on online bookings only.
Ordering and retaining medical certificates of cause of death (MCCDs). Guidance for GP practices, hospitals, hospices and medical examiner offices about when to order more MCCDs and what to do with completed MCCDs.
Constituency data: GPs and GP practices. Interactive dashboard showing data on GPs in England, including patient to GP ratios, the number of GPs, and a map of GP practices.
General Practice in England. The briefing provides an overview of general practice in England.
Tackling the GP workload crisis: from evidence to action on hidden and avoidable workload in general practice. According to this report, GP practices in England may be losing the equivalent of £410 per GP per day to avoidable and hidden work. It finds that a significant proportion of GP time is being taken up by work generated by wider system inefficiencies rather than direct patient need. It warns that this growing burden is reducing the time available for patient care and risks undermining both access and safety.
Still holding it together: what NHS administration really looks like from general practice. 'When we talk about NHS administration, it often gets described as systems, processes and inefficiencies. That’s not how it feels in general practice. From where I sit as a practice manager, administration is the bit that either helps a patient get care – or quietly stops them from getting it at all.'
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any issues in primary care then please contact Joanne Easterbrook.
Public Health
Publications/Guidance
Tobacco and Vapes Bill achieving Royal Assent. Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of the Kings Fund, reacts to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill achieving Royal Assent, and why it marks a decisive moment in the quest to improve the public’s health.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any issues in Public Health please contact Claire Bentley..
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
The transition from child to adult health and social care services: Inquiry. The Health and Social Care Committee seeks views to inform its evaluation of 15 "statements of intent" covering six policy areas regarding to adult health and social care transitions: timeliness and pace of the transition into adult services; effectiveness of the transition process and cross-service coordination; meaningful involvement of children, young people and their carers; workforce and training; enabling developmentally appropriate.
Beyond caring: a new funding model for later-life social care. This report looks at the issues facing social care including underfunding, regional disparities, and distributive unfairness. It finds that unmet need is soaring, with over two million later-life and 1.5 million working-age adults not accessing the social care they need. England currently has a single funding model for working-age and later-life social care. Yet for working-age and later-life care, there are differences in the nature of care needs arising and best practice. This report proposes a new funding model for later-life social care based on four key principles: risk pooling, sustainability, fairness, and deliverability.
The training gap: a hidden injustice in dementia care and how to fix it. This report reveals huge gaps in dementia training across social care: half of staff receive just one to two hours of dementia learning despite 70% of care home residents living with the condition. It argues that these shortfalls in training are leaving social care staff unprepared, unsupported, and putting people with dementia at risk of inadequate care. It calls on the government to build a bold and ambitious dementia plan, which includes mandatory dementia training for care staff.
International recruitment regional fund for the adult social care sector 2026 to 2027. This guidance is for eligible regional and sub-regional partnerships that deliver the international recruitment regional fund. It sets out the aims of the fund and the conditions for partnerships to access the grant. One of the main aims of the fund in the 2026 to 2027 financial year is to support international care workers impacted by sponsor licence revocations (displaced workers) into new ethical employment as quickly as possible. It also aims to proactively engage with adult social care providers to encourage recruitment of displaced workers and promote ethical recruitment practices.
From crisis to chronic shortage: the future of adult social care workforce recruitment in the UK. This working paper examines the evolving immigration compliance pressures facing social care providers in the United Kingdom. These pressures have been situated within broader policy shifts around migration, workforce governance and post-Brexit regulation. Drawing on existing literature and informal stakeholder interviews, this working paper highlights how these administrative and ethical challenges have persisted and intensified for the social care sector.
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
Assisted dying: the policy areas that deserve more focus. The assisted dying bill for England and Wales will not now become law in the current parliamentary session. With it likely that the subject will return to parliament, however, a new blog from Sarah Scobie and Sarah Reed from the Nuffield Trust highlights the key lessons from other countries that could be relevant for what happens next, with two policy issues in particular warranting more attention.
'We don't know where we stand’: experiences of accessing elective care while seeking asylum in England. This report aims to understand the experiences of people seeking asylum while waiting for elective care in England. It finds that the mental health impact of waiting was worsened by lack of information and deterioration in physical health. Additionally, people seeking asylum may be more likely to miss elective care appointments due to a mixture of practical, financial and trust issues. It includes recommendations for the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, commissioners and health care providers and the Home Office. The recommendations are grouped into four themes: reducing the physical and mental health impacts of waiting; improving communication and information; supporting people to attend appointments; and ensuring relocation does not impact on people’s care.
What does climate change mean for the future of public services? Extreme weather, supply chain shocks and rising inequalities are affecting public services. Chris Naylor explores five implications of climate change for health care and other public services.
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