06/11/2026
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.
Medico legal issues arising from care of the older person. Join us for a focused session examining the key demographic realities of an aging population and the distinctive considerations that set the care of older adults apart from other clinical specialities. Joanne Easterbrook will be joined by Dr Chris Durkin, Consultant Physician in Geriatric and General Medicine, who will outline the principal patient-safety risks associated with later life, including falls, pressure sores and the complex role of dementia and cognitive decline in shaping safe and effective care.
PSIRF. Join Bevan Brittan partners Joanna Lloyd and Samantha Minchin for a discussion on how PSIRF is being implemented. Our speakers will consider whether progress is being made in terms of the future developments recommended by HSSIB.
Watch on Catch Up!
Understanding Modern Slavery: Employer Responsibilities and Practical Action. Bevan Brittan's employment, immigration and regulatory specialists explored the current modern slavery landscape and the responsibilities placed on employers. Drawing on real-world experience, our speakers examined where modern slavery risks can arise in the workplace, the interaction between employment and immigration compliance, and the steps organisations can take to strengthen their governance and safeguard vulnerable individuals.
Standing Your Ground: A clinician’s perspective on being a witness at trial. Dr Lucy Pollock, Consultant Geriatrician, shared her experiences about being a factual witness at trial, including her fears regarding settlement, her concern for the Claimant/those involved, her preparation for trial and her experience of giving evidence.
Case Law Update – Mental Health Act 1983. Julia Jones was joined by Rhys Hadden from Serjeants’ Inn Chambers to consider key case law and important updates from the past 12 months relating to Mental Health Act 1983.
Recent developments in breach and causation for clinical negligence lawyers. Thomas Beamont joined Joanne Easterbrook to discuss important issues arising from various cases, touching on both breach of duty and causation for clinical negligence practitioners.
Coercion and Control: Lacking capacity or a vulnerable adult - what are the powers and duties available? In this session, Vikram Sachdeva KC and Adam Fullwood of 39 Essex Chambers joined Hannah Taylor to consider the complex and often overlapping legal frameworks that arise where concerns are raised about undue influence, coercion, and an individual’s ability to make decisions.
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
Mental health crisis care: care of patients in emergency departments. This report finds that people experiencing a mental health crisis are too often being cared for in emergency departments that are not designed, equipped or resourced to meet their needs. Action is required to support safe, therapeutic care in emergency departments alongside wider changes across the care pathway.
Managing the flow of patients through hospital from A&E. This report looks at how well patients flow through A&E into the wider hospital in England and at the support NHS England provides to trusts to improve that flow. It finds that NHS England has targeted funding towards improving A&E waiting times and patient flow through hospitals. However, this growth in spending has not been matched with proportionate improvements for patients. The report sets out an overview of A&E services, targets and spending as well as an analysis of flow through hospitals and the factors that affect it. It also outlines what NHS England and trusts are doing to improve performance.
Safe to care: violence and aggression against emergency department staff. Around three in four UK emergency department staff have told the RCEM that they experience or witness violence and aggression in their department on a daily or weekly basis. In this briefing, the RCEM calls on government in the four nations, and NHS leaders, to make emergency departments safe to care by: preventing violence and abuse before it occurs – starting with the eradication of long waits to be seen, crowding and corridor care, whilst strengthening security standards; supporting staff through better training, reporting, follow-up, and links with the police; and improving accountability of organisations to protect and support NHS staff, with better working across systems to ensure perpetrators face justice.
What can local variation in avoidable emergency admissions tell us? Ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions are health issues where effective treatment and support in primary and community care could help prevent people from needing emergency hospital care. This chart of the week reveals that ACS emergency admission rates vary widely across England with rates in some integrated care boards almost four times higher than in others.
Bevan Brittan Articles
Drones, Air Ambulances and Patient Privacy: What Ambulance Trusts Need to Know - Joanna Lloyd
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
What does the health and care system look like for children in England? Niamh Buckingham explores which key groups work together to support children's health in England and examines the key challenges facing the system.
Children and young people's alcohol and drug services: framework. This national framework sets out expectations for how local areas should design, commission and provide high-quality drug and alcohol support for children and young people. It covers interventions for children aged 17 and under, delivered by children's and young people’s specialist drug and alcohol treatment services. It also includes guidance on interventions for young people aged 18 to 24, as part of transitional arrangements in children and young people’s alcohol and drug services or in adult alcohol and drug treatment services.
Child sexual abuse: parental support. The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre) has published a report on the experiences and needs of parents and carers of sexually abused children in England and Wales. The report provides an overview of existing research and resources and covers the importance of parental support; the impact of abuse on parents; barriers parents face accessing support; how professionals can support parents; and gaps in the literature. Key findings include: parents and carers can experience psychological and practical impacts which can significantly affect their capacity to support their child; impacts can differ depending on factors such as sex, ethnicity, and past experiences of abuse; and higher levels of parental support were associated with improved mental health and resilience in children.
Radicalisation. The Department for Education has updated its Prevent duty guidance for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) in education settings in England. The guidance aims to explain the Prevent referral process, set out the statutory responsibilities, and prepare designated safeguarding leads to respond effectively. In addition to the Prevent duty guidance, there is practical guidance for DSLs on Channel meetings and next step checklists on safeguarding learners susceptible to radicalisation.
The childhood lottery: the hardest places to grow up in England. The Children’s Commissioner has assembled 162 measures of children’s lives, and used this to allocate scores to local authorities to help understand in which areas of the country it is hardest to grow up. These overall scores are not performance measures of local authorities, as they include things beyond their control such as police force measures, and child poverty. The data pulled together in the Childhood Lottery highlights the scale of challenges faced by children across all areas of the country and all areas of their lives. For example, over one million children (1,048,965) had active referrals to children and young people’s mental health services in 2024-25.
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
Health Bill: patient safety – fact sheet. Outlines the proposed legislative changes in the Health Bill to the way patient safety is being strengthened.
National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes:2025-2026 Impact Report. The Health Innovation Network has released this latest impact report, which reflects progress made across focus areas in support of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy. Topics include the Martha’s Rule programme, medicines safety and maternity and neonatal programmes.
Learning from suicide-related compensation claims: an updated thematic review. This review explores learning from suicide-related compensation claims made against mental health trusts in England. The report highlights opportunities to strengthen communication, support effective family involvement, improve risk assessment processes and address organisational factors that can influence patient safety and care.
Independent review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: terms of reference. Terms of reference for the independent investigation into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Thirlwall Inquiry report. Report and recommendations of the public inquiry established to examine the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital from 2015 to 2018.
Government to act on Thirlwall patient safety recommendations. The government outlines plans to strengthen NHS safeguarding, accountability and neonatal safety, including work on cot cams.
Government response to the Thirlwall Inquiry. The Secretary of State has apologised to families and set out urgent action following the Thirlwall Inquiry’s findings, published on 15 September.
Patient Safety Commissioner Strategy 2026-2028. The Patient Safety Commissioner has published her 2026-2028 strategy, setting out priorities for her second term focused on improving the safety of medicines and medical devices and strengthening the patient voice in healthcare. It centres on three themes: improving safety and regulation, supporting informed patient decisions, and advancing equity, justice and patient safety leadership. Key initiatives include: strengthening oversight of remote prescribing, improving medicines information and medical device monitoring, promoting the safe and transparent adoption of artificial intelligence, enhancing informed consent processes, increasing transparency around payments to clinicians, addressing health inequalities, and pressing for action on historic healthcare injustices.
Investigation 1: report 2 of 2: Mental health crisis care: care of patients in emergency departments. An investigation report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) into mental health crisis care in emergency departments (EDs) finds that people experiencing mental health crises often face prolonged waits, unsuitable environments, inconsistent support and delays accessing specialist mental health services in EDs. Its recommendations include that the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England works with relevant national stakeholders to: set out and support national minimum operational service standards and built design expectations for emergency departments; and ensure people in mental health crisis in EDs are kept safe by addressing the findings of this report.
Cosmetic procedures: follow-up - Second Report of Session 2026–27. A Women and Equalities Committee report criticises the Government's delayed response to its February 2026 report on cosmetic procedures. It finds that high-risk procedures, including liquid Brazilian butt lifts and liquid breast augmentations, are still being carried out by unqualified practitioners in unsafe settings. It also notes evidence from surgical organisations that helped over 1,200 women with complications, more than half involving sepsis and hospitalisation. The report reiterates recommendations for immediate restrictions on the highest-risk procedures, specialist training and board certification for invasive surgical procedures, and a timetable for wider reform.
BMA reporting portal submissions: patient safety — advanced practice roles. In January 2026, the BMA launched a new reporting portal through which doctors and medical students could report issues around any form of doctor substitution, many of which have related to advanced practitioners. When submitting concerns through the portal, the BMA was clear to submitters that incidents should additionally be reported through formal mechanisms. This report collates all of the submissions relating to patient safety the BMA has received relating to advanced practitioners.
A Prevention of Future Deaths report dated 17 June 2026, sent to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care following the death of Catherine Kirkham, who had consulted her GP with wounds to her lower limbs and a necrotic toe before being referred to A&E, identifies concerns over difficulties accessing vaccination records, inadequate clinical documentation, and missed opportunities to identify tetanus risk and provide timely treatment. A response from the Department of Health and Social Care, dated 17 August 2026, states that improvements to shared patient records are underway, including a proposed Single Patient Record, and that NHS England will respond in detail to the coroner's concerns.
Understanding Black maternal mental health in the UK: findings from the Five X More Black Maternity Experiences Report. This report explores the experiences of Black women who experienced mental health difficulties during pregnancy and after birth, and what happened when they needed support. These findings come from the mental health questions included in the 2025 Five X More Black Maternity Experiences Survey. It looked specifically at the experiences of 527 Black women who reported experiencing mental health difficulties, to better understand their experiences of accessing support and receiving care. Free registration required to access this report.
Learning from investigations where intrapartum care has been given at home. This report sets out a number of areas in which care could be improved for women receiving intrapartum care at home. The report provides a series of safety observations and prompts for NHS trusts on topics such as staffing availability, training and guidance, and communications between different care professionals. The publication is based on learning and insights gained from the analysis of 59 maternity investigation reports (produced between 2018 and 2025) by both the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch and MNSI. These investigations are carried out when they meet MNSI criteria and relate to early neonatal deaths, stillbirths and severe brain injury in babies born at term following labour and maternal deaths in England.
UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Module reports, government responses, implementation dashboard and costs of responding to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry incurred by government departments.
UK government response to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 4 report. This is the UK government's response to the recommendations set out in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 4: vaccines and therapeutics report. The report examined the role of vaccines and therapeutics throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK government response sets out how the government has considered and acted on the report’s five recommendations and where further action will be taken.
News
NHS to expand ‘life-saving’ Martha’s Rule to all A&Es. The NHS is expanding Martha's Rule to hospital A&E departments and waiting rooms across England to strengthen patient safety. It enables patients, families and staff to call a dedicated number to request an urgent review by an independent clinical team when a patient's condition is deteriorating and concerns have not been adequately addressed. Following a pilot in seven trusts, the phased rollout across A&E, maternity and neonatal services is expected to be completed by March 2028. Named after 13-year-old Martha Mills, who died from sepsis in 2021 after her family's concerns about her worsening condition were not acted on, Martha's Rule has already been introduced at 221 acute adult and children's inpatient sites.
Beyond productivity: delivering high-quality, efficient healthcare. This report examines how NHS boards can use better intelligence to identify risk, improve patient flow and connect operational performance with quality and outcomes.
Over £1.5 billion to help NHS withstand year-round pressure. More than 950 projects will make NHS hospitals safer, more resilient and better equipped to care for patients.
Bevan Brittan Events
Medico legal issues arising from care of the older person. Join us for a focused session examining the key demographic realities of an aging population and the distinctive considerations that set the care of older adults apart from other clinical specialities. Joanne Easterbrook will be joined by Dr Chris Durkin, Consultant Physician in Geriatric and General Medicine, who will outline the principal patient-safety risks associated with later life, including falls, pressure sores and the complex role of dementia and cognitive decline in shaping safe and effective care.
PSIRF. Join Bevan Brittan partners Joanna Lloyd and Samantha Minchin for a discussion on how PSIRF is being implemented. Our speakers will consider whether progress is being made in terms of the future developments recommended by HSSIB.
Bevan Brittan Articles
Learning from suicide related claims: an updated thematic review - Joanne Easterbrook
Has the NHS “Just Culture” Pendulum Swung Too Far? - Joanna Lloyd
Black Maternal Mental Health Week: Why mental health equity matters in maternity care - Joanna Lloyd
Watch on Catch Up!
Standing Your Ground: A clinician’s perspective on being a witness at trial. Dr Lucy Pollock, Consultant Geriatrician, shared her experiences about being a factual witness at trial, including her fears regarding settlement, her concern for the Claimant/those involved, her preparation for trial and her experience of giving evidence.
Recent developments in breach and causation for clinical negligence lawyers. Thomas Beamont joined Joanne Easterbrook to discuss important issues arising from various cases, touching on both breach of duty and causation for clinical negligence practitioners.
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
Government reverses plan to exclude councils from ICBs in amendment to Health Bill. The Government has reversed plans to remove mandated council representation from integrated care boards. An amendment to the Health Bill 2026-27 tabled on 1 September 2026 would restore the requirement for at least one member jointly nominated by local authorities whose areas coincide with, or include the whole or any part of, the integrated care board’s area (as well as any new mayoral nominated member). The reversal follows pressure from the Health and Social Care Committee.
What can local variation in avoidable emergency admissions tell us? Ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions are health issues for which effective care and treatment in primary and community care could reduce the need for emergency care in hospital. In a new chart of the week, Kathryn Marszalek reveals that ACS emergency admission rates vary widely across England – with rates in some integrated care boards almost four times higher than in others.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around commissioning or integrated care, please contact Anna Davies or Katrina McCrory
Digital Health
Publications/guidance
From innovation ambition to system readiness: what health leaders need to do now. This report sets out a framework to help health leaders consider whether their organisations are ready to adopt and scale innovation successfully. The framework is a set of leadership questions to support decisions on when an innovation should be adopted, scaled, paused, redesigned or stopped. It argues that the next phase of health innovation will depend not only on what emerging technologies can do, but on whether health systems have the conditions in place to use them effectively.
National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare: Recommendations for a future regulatory framework. A report by the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare sets out recommendations for a future, proportionate, lifecycle-based regulatory and assurance framework. It recommends staged authorisations for appropriate AI-enabled medical devices; risk-proportionate real-world post-market monitoring and reporting across a device's lifecycle; clearer public-facing safety information, including easier access to adverse-incident data; and enhanced Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency enforcement mechanisms, potentially including financial penalties. A separate cross-government response will set out how the Government and system partners will consider and take forward the recommendations.
The public’s views on the regulation of AI in health care. Commissioned as the research partner to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's independent National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, this report brings together findings from the Health Foundation's annual polling of public attitudes towards AI with new findings from a UK-wide public deliberative exercise exploring what the public thinks regulators should prioritise and what is needed to build and maintain public trust in AI regulation.
Leading digital integration for better health and wellbeing. This report highlights the crucial role councils play in delivering joined-up digital services across health and care as part of the 10-Year Health Plan for England. The report brings together evidence on digital and data integration in health, wellbeing and social care and identifies key opportunities for local authorities and central government to work in partnership to advance the digital ambitions set out in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan, alongside wider public sector digital reform. The report was commissioned by the Local Government Association and developed by PPL who were responsible for the literature review, stakeholder interviews and analysis.
From AI receptionists to patient recovery: agentic AI’s emerging role in health and care. The Kings Fund brought health and care leaders together to reflect on the opportunities, risks and practical realities of adopting agentic AI across services.
Law Society publishes practice note on use of AI in legal practice. The Law Society of England and Wales has published a practice note on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in legal practice. It confirms that existing legal, regulatory and professional obligations continue to apply when solicitors use AI and that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) does not approve or certify AI systems. The note covers professional duties, governance, confidentiality, privilege, data protection, court duties, supervision, billing, insurance, cyber security and client transparency.
Bevan Brittan Articles
The rise of AI in litigation: Managing AI-generated complaints, claims and DSARs - Roger Carver
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
Guidance on NHS staff facilities. This guidance advises NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts and integrated care boards on the approach they must take in the provision and use of physical staff facilities – including changing, washing and showering areas, toilets and staff accommodation.
In short supply: estimating the shortfall of registered nurses in the NHS in England. This report finds that there's a shortage of an estimated 55,000 registered nurses needed to deliver care safely, more than double the official number of NHS vacancies, which was 23,046 in August 2026. In the last year, nurse numbers grew by just 1%, but experts say a 2.5 to 5.7% increase is needed. The report demonstrates that nurse numbers have been held down since 2009, while the number of doctors in NHS roles has grown at double the rate. It argues that, if nursing workforce investment had kept pace with that of doctors, there would be more than 77,000 additional nurses working in the NHS in England today.
Ethnic minority leadership in the NHS: progression, representation, retention and organisational culture. This report is intended to support NHS organisations, board leaders and staff to better understand the experiences of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds working within the NHS and to inform practical actions that strengthen progression, representation, retention and inclusion within NHS leadership. It seeks not only to describe ongoing challenges, but also to identify actions that support meaningful and sustained change across the NHS.
RCP view on supporting clinical academic careers. Clinical academics play a vital role in improving patient care, advancing medical knowledge and supporting the UK’s position as a global leader in the life sciences. They generate the evidence that drives innovation in healthcare, educate the next generation of clinicians and help ensure NHS patients benefit from world-leading research. This report warns that the UK’s clinical academic workforce is in sustained decline. It sets out twelve recommendations to support clinical academic careers and strengthen the future pipeline of doctors working across research and clinical settings.
Prescribing place: retaining doctors, reframing community health. The NHS faces a double challenge: retain a medical workforce under growing strain, while building a health service that is more preventive, more rooted in neighbourhoods and better connected to the communities it serves. This paper asks what would happen if place became a more important part of medical workforce policy, particularly for resident doctors. Drawing on six years of research and examples from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, it explores how greater geographical stability could be combined with high-quality medical training, while giving doctors stronger connections to local communities and a greater role in improving the services around them.
Transitioning locally employed doctors and dentists onto substantive contracts. Doctors on fixed-term contracts, known as locally employed doctors, are being given permanent contracts as part of the June 2026 deal between the BMA resident doctors committee and the government. This guidance is intended to provide direction and advice on offering substantive contracts and considerations on managing short-term vacancies. Example scenarios and FAQs are included to aid understanding of the intended approach.
Joint DHSC and NHS England evidence for the NHSPRB: pay round 2027 to 2028. Evidence submitted to the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) by the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England for the 2027 to 2028 pay round.
Bevan Brittan Articles
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.
You can keep up to date with all of the Employment Rights Act 2025 by visiting our Employment Rights Hub.
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
Financial assistance to NHS trusts and foundation trusts: 2025 to 2026. Loans and public dividend capital provided by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to NHS trusts and foundation trusts during 2025 to 2026.
DHSC annual report and accounts: 2025 to 2026. How the Department of Health and Social Care has funded its activities and used its resources during the financial year 2025 to 2026.
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 housing and health, please contact Julia Jones.
Health Inequalities
Publications/Guidance
State of Care 2025/2026 - CQC report on a social care market in flux, changing shape rapidly but without a clear destination. Meanwhile, persistent inequalities across the whole health and care system mean people's experience of care is fractured and heavily dependent on where they live and who they are. Demand for health and adult social care continues to grow, and in many areas, including community mental health services, need is also becoming more complex. There are signs of improvement, including more GP appointments, increased use of digital solutions, and reduced waits for elective care. The report highlights examples of local innovation, including neighbourhood models and integrated teams
Closing the mortality gap: tackling health inequalities experienced by those living with severe mental illness. People living with severe mental illness in England face a persistent and unacceptable health inequality, dying on average 15-20 years earlier than the general population, largely due to preventable physical illnesses. This report examines the complex drivers of this mortality gap - like fragmented care, the impact of living with a mental illness, stigma and poverty - and sets out a comprehensive case for urgent national action.
Place, inequalities and children and young people’s mental health. This briefing summarises recent research from the University of York, demonstrating how children’s mental health is strongly shaped by where they grow up, with mental health inequalities driven by poverty, poor quality and insecure homes, access to good quality green space, and access to culturally competent mental health support. The briefing calls for policy makers to design services that recognise how children’s mental health is shaped by the environment around them, and invest in long term approaches that integrate mental health with environmental, education and housing policy.
Woman of the North: closing the health gap for minority ethnic women. This report states that minority ethnic women in the North of England face a lifetime of inequalities that stretch from childhood and maternity care to employment, mental health and later life. The report found that racial discrimination, poverty and regional underinvestment combine to produce significantly worse outcomes in the North than elsewhere in England, while major gaps in data continue to conceal the full scale of the problem.
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
Restrictions on the performance of high-risk cosmetic and wellbeing procedures in England. This consultation is seeking views on new safeguards for high-risk cosmetic and wellbeing procedures
Cosmetic cowboys crackdown continues with new restrictions. The government's crackdown on cosmetic cowboys intensifies with restrictions on high-risk procedures.
How we can help
For more information on issues around independent health, please contact Tim Hodgetts or Julie Charlton.
Information sharing/data
Publications and guidance
Accessing and sharing health records FAQs. Information for anyone attempting to gain access to their own, or somebody else’s, medical records.
Bevan Brittan Articles
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 and Inquiries
Guidance/publications
A Prevention of Future Deaths report dated 17 June 2026, sent to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care following the death of Catherine Kirkham, who had consulted her GP with wounds to her lower limbs and a necrotic toe before being referred to A&E, identifies concerns over difficulties accessing vaccination records, inadequate clinical documentation, and missed opportunities to identify tetanus risk and provide timely treatment. A response from the Department of Health and Social Care, dated 17 August 2026, states that improvements to shared patient records are underway, including a proposed Single Patient Record, and that NHS England will respond in detail to the coroner's concerns.
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
Changes to the definition of deprivation of liberty. Update following the Supreme Court judgment on 2 June 2026 clarifying the definition of the deprivation of liberty.
Independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism: final report. This report looks into changes in prevalence, need and demand, and what is influencing them as well as the benefits and risks of diagnosis, and how support could be better matched to need. It also describes how well current services respond, including waiting times, inequalities and gaps in support and makes recommendations for prevention, earlier support, improved care and long-term reform.
Learning from suicide-related compensation claims: an updated thematic review. This review explores learning from suicide-related compensation claims made against mental health trusts in England. The report highlights opportunities to strengthen communication, support effective family involvement, improve risk assessment processes and address organisational factors that can influence patient safety and care.
Understanding local provision for Black maternal mental health. Black women face a higher risk of developing mental health problems during and after pregnancy, yet are less likely to receive the support they need. Mental health problems remain a leading cause of maternal deaths. This briefing brings together responses from integrated care boards (ICBs) in England on training and services commissioned to support Black mothers. It finds a patchwork system with inconsistent data, funding and support. The vast majority of ICBs do not commission services specifically for Black maternal mental health, and five hold no information on such services.
Prevent: guidance for NHS mental health services. How those working in NHS mental health services can help reduce the risk of radicalisation in children, young people and adults.
Cases
B (A Child: Complex Needs: Deprivation of Liberty), Re [2026] EWHC 2789 (Fam) provides a clear and comprehensive analysis of the Supreme Court's decision in AGNI and its application to children under the age of 16. The judgment is notable as the first in what Henke J, the lead judge for the National Deprivation of Liberty List, has indicated will be a series of decisions addressing deprivation of liberty issues concerning children and young people whose cases have come before that specialist list.
Bevan Brittan Articles
Watch on Catch Up!
Case Law Update – Mental Health Act 1983. Julia Jones was joined by Rhys Hadden from Serjeants’ Inn Chambers to consider key case law and important updates from the past 12 months relating to Mental Health Act 1983.
Coercion and Control: Lacking capacity or a vulnerable adult - what are the powers and duties available? In this session, Vikram Sachdeva KC and Adam Fullwood of 39 Essex Chambers joined Hannah Taylor to consider the complex and often overlapping legal frameworks that arise where concerns are raised about undue influence, coercion, and an individual’s ability to make decisions.
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
Prevention: the general practice role in evidence-based and equitable prevention. According to this report, around two thirds of patients trust their GP for advice on how to live healthily, yet three quarters of GPs say they lack the time to offer preventive care, which may include advice on lifestyle, vaccinations, and self-care. It argues that a stronger preventive approach could lead to better patient outcomes, reduced health inequalities, fewer avoidable hospital admissions and a more sustainable NHS. The report focuses on the role general practice can play in prevention, and the support needed to create the capacity for this work.
First point of care: a plan for a better NHS front door through connected primary care. This report examines why people in England struggle to access primary care and what changes are needed to overcome these barriers. It is the first inquiry of its kind to examine all four primary care sectors together, recognising that patients do not experience general practice, community pharmacy, NHS dentistry and optometry as four separate systems.
Reforming general practice in England: what can be learned from the 2018 Scottish GMS contract reforms? Scotland's 2018 GP contract set out to cut GP workload and narrow health inequalities. Eight years on, its central promises remain largely undelivered – not through lack of ambition, but because of problems with implementation, resourcing and measurement. As England considers reforming general practice, this briefing draws out lessons from Scotland's experience, from evaluation and targeting resources by need to the risks of moving services out of general practice.
Ordering and retaining medical certificates of cause of death (MCCDs). Guidance for GP practices, hospitals, hospices and medical examiner offices on how to order MCCDs and what to do with completed MCCDs.
Steps to Safety initiative introduced in 12 areas across England. Phase 1 of Steps to Safety will enable GP practices across 12 areas in England to connect people experiencing domestic abuse with specialist support.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any primary care issues please contact Joanne Easterbrook.
Prison Health
Publications/Guidance
Health and social care needs assessment toolkit: women's prisons. This toolkit, produced with NHS England, was developed in response to recommendations from the review of health and social care in women’s prisons. The toolkit provides a gender-specific Health and Social Care Needs Assessment framework that evaluates the health and social care needs of women in prison during custody and on release.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any prison health issues please contact Joanne Easterbrook.
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
Adult social care client level data, England: quarterly update. Official statistics in development on insights from client level data from local authorities, including information on assessments and long-term support.
The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2026. This report provides information about the adult social care sector, including its size and structure, employment information, recruitment and retention and workforce demographics. It also covers pay, qualifications and training, workforce projections, international recruitment and factors affecting both staff turnover and Care Quality Commission inspection ratings.
The state of health care and adult social care in England 2025/26. This annual report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care, and highlights where care needs to improve. It finds that demand for health and adult social care continues to grow, and in many areas, including community mental health services, need is also becoming more complex. It outlines signs of improvement, including more GP appointments, increased use of digital solutions, and shorter waits for elective care. The report highlights examples of local innovation, including neighbourhood models and integrated teams. However, it also finds inequalities across the whole health and care system that mean people's experience of care is fractured and dependent on where they live and who they are.
Using AI in adult social care. An introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) in adult social care and best practice for adult social care providers.
Annual review of adult social care complaints 2025-26. According to this report, complaints about adult social care in England rose by 22% last year. The LGSCO received 3,938 complaints and enquiries about adult social care in general in 2025-26, up from the previous year. In the independent sector, complaints from people who fund their own care also rose by 10% to 368. The report argues that this reflects an increase in public awareness of the right to complain, although suggests that too few people who fund their own care come forward.
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 Stuart Marchant.
General
Publications/guidance
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2026-27. On 17 June 2026, Lauren Edwards MP (Labour) presented the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2026-27 to the House of Commons, having been drawn second highest in the private members’ Bill ballot for the 2026 27 parliamentary session. The Bill’s long title states it would “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life”. The Bill has its second reading on 11 September 2026. This briefing provides an overview of the Bill and key areas of debate.
Bevan Brittan Articles
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