Richard Griffith

Preparing for the liberty protection safeguards

The revised provisions will provide for an administrative system that will be able to authorise the deprivation of liberty of a cared-for person in any care setting, not just hospitals and care homes...

Increased maximum sentences for assaulting nurses

‘An assault on any individual or citizen in our society is a terrible thing, but an assault on an emergency worker is an assault on us all. These people are our constituted representatives. They...

Fraud in the NHS

In its NHS fraud benchmarking report the audit provider RSM found fraud in the NHS increasing by 17% a year. Some 16% of fraudulent activity in 2016 concerned staff working while on sick leave with a...

Unlicensed medicines

The EU recognises that some patients' clinical need for medicines cannot be met by the current range of licensed medicines, or that it is simply not commercially viable for a pharmaceutical company to...

The inherent jurisdiction of the High Court

Under English common law, a superior court, the High Court rather than the Court of Protection, has the jurisdiction to hear any matter that comes before it, unless a statute limits that authority....

Consultation before ‘do not attempt resuscitation’ orders

In R(Burke) v GMC [2005], the Court of Appeal held that, once a patient is accepted by the hospital trust, nurses come under a positive duty to care for the individual. A fundamental aspect of this...

Should there be compulsory childhood immunisation?

The Health Secretary has recently suggested that the government would not rule out compulsory vaccinations in England to overcome the public health risk caused by lowered immunisation rates (Mohdin,...

Advance decisions to refuse treatment

The Law Commission (1995) defined an ADRT as:.

Attending a best interests meeting

Nurses may be required to make decisions or act on behalf of a person who lacks capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The person making the decision is referred to in the code of practice as a...

Electronic records, confidentiality and data security: the nurse's responsibility

Registered nurses have a professional duty to maintain a patient's confidence and to maintain data security by collecting, treating and storing all data appropriately (Nursing and Midwifery Council...

Lawfully admitting a person who lacks decision-making capacity to hospital

A nurse acting in the best interests of an incapable adult would not incur liability for arranging the admission of that person to hospital for care and treatment, even where they appeared to object...

Warning patients of treatment risks

Using community treatment orders: key provisions

Testing of a detained patient's rehabilitation was traditionally undertaken using the extended leave provisions of section 17 of the Mental Health Act 1983. These provisions allow a responsible...